Philadelphia
by I hart Booth
Summary: The partners take a case in Booth's hometown, but what they find...no one expects. The beginning of each chap is a window into how Booth became the man he is today. Total BB! AN: I know the show has been conflicting, but Booth is from Philly for this fic
1. Road Trip

**_I could harldy wait to start posting this fic, it's one of my faves aside from Lies. Okay, here we go. _**

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_1982_

_Four boys of about ten strolled along a dirty city street on a humid Wednesday afternoon in mid July._

_"I'm hot." One of them complained. The lanky kid pulled his gray t-shirt over his head and tucked it into the waistband of his shorts._

_"We're all hot Troy." A boy with striking green eyes and brown hair made a face as he tugged at his collar for the third time in ten minutes._

_"Yeah, but we black folk got it harder than y'all Jacob. We absorb heat 'cause our skin's so much darker." Troy put his bare arm up next to his friend's as if they couldn't already tell the difference in skin tone._

_"Whatever man. All I know is I'm hot."_

_The thrill of being out of school had worn off about three weeks prior and the lazy mornings of sleep and TV had long since lost their charm._

_The tallest boy, a kid named Charlie, kicked a beer bottle and it smashed against the brick wall of a store front. The boys howled in laughter and ran, knowing the grumpy store owner, Jack Stone, would make an appearance any second._

_They soon found running was a bad idea in the dangerously hot weather and were winded in moments._

_"C'mon guys, my dad'll give us somethin' to drink." This suggestion came from the shortest boy, an inch or two smaller than the others. He usually reminded quiet, finding observation usually safer and more telling than conversation. Even at ten his slightly curly brown hair and dark eyes made him stand out from the rest, one day he would be a very handsome man._

_Despite his small stature and quiet nature, the other boys followed this boy anywhere he went. Not only could he usually come up with something interesting to do, something they would surely get in trouble for later, but there was just something about him._

_There was something about the way that little boy held himself, how he spoke with calculated certainty and wisdom beyond his years, that commanded attention and respect from the others._

_As usual, Troy, Charlie and Jacob immediatly agreed and followed the fourth boy, Seeley, into his father's barbershop._

* * *

Zack came barreling around the corner in the lab carrying a bubbling beaker full of something green and mean looking at arm's length.

He wore blue rubber gloves and safety goggles and didn't see a well dressed FBI agent heading straight for him.

"Whoa!" Booth jumped out of the way at the last second and glared at the young man's receding back.

"Sorry Agent Booth! I've got to get this sample of liquid Asthrimene to Hodgins before it explodes." He called over his shoulder.

Booth shook his head and continued toward his partner's office.

"That kid should wear a bell or something." Booth walked into Brennan's office without knocking and plopped down in the chair in front of her desk.

"Who?" Brennan glanced up from her computer where she'd just sent off three emails full of information to different TV shows, whom she was sure would thank her profusely and then procede to ignore her input.

"You're assistant. He's running around with a beaker-full of explosive liquid. He almost got it on this $1300 suit and then I would have felt bad 'cause I'd have had to shoot him." Booth shrugged his shoulders and clasped his hands as if talking about the weather.

"You threaten to shoot people a lot." Brennan noticed the bright red and yellow polka dot tie Booth was wearing and smiled. She really liked those ties. "And Zack's not my assistant anymore."

Booth rolled his eyes and got up to collect her coat and purse.

"What are you doing?"

He looked at her, doing his best to keep a blank expression. "Didn't Cam tell you?"

Brennan frowned and shook her head, she didn't like the look of that suppressed grin on his face.

"Oh, well, Bones...we're going on a little road trip!" His grin no longer hidden.

"No!" Brennan shot out of her chair and backed away from her partner as he tried to put her coat on. "I've got a million things to do here Booth, I can't just drop everything and let you abduct me."

"First of all, Bones, it wouldn't be an abduction if you _let_ me do it. And second...just c'mon Bones." he put his palms together in a pleading getsture, "You always do this. I tell you we have an out of state case, you say you're not going, I go over your head, we argue, you get mad and I pick you up the next morning with a coffee and a smile and we're on the next flight outta here. Can't we just skip all that and go?"

Brennan glared for a second and stopped moving, knowing he was right and annoyed at her defeat.

"Fine."

"Yes!" Booth grinned and helped her into her coat.

"Where are we going?" She shut off her lights and he guided her out of her office by the small of her back.

"The city of Brotherly Love Bones. Philly!" Brennan gave him a strange look but he continued staring straight ahead, a smile dancing on his lips.

_This is gonna be great._

**_Well, tell me what you thought! Poke the button...you know you wanna..._**


	2. Arrival

_**Thanks for all the enthusiasm for the first chap. Your reviews make my day! My week...my year!!**_

_**A/N: It was brought to my attention when I posted this on another site, that Philly is close enough to DC to drive to, but I didn't know that when I wrote it and the chap really doesn't work any other way, so let's just say they absolutly had to take a plain for some reason...maybe all the roads are torn up and unusable or something...**_

_1986_

_A young man with dark hair and jeans with the knees torn out shifted the heavy bags of groceries once more in his arms. The cold January air encircled him and he counted the steps until he could enter the warmth of his families apartment._

_His father or mother usually picked up the groceries on every Sunday, but today he'd been sent to do it. His mother was home with the flu, his father was taking care of his mother and Jared was out with friends. Again._

_He frowned and squashed an abandoned fast food cup before him. Oil stains near the curb made swirling rainbows on the ground and the dreary gray fog that had descended the city made everything feel more ominous than usual._

_Jared always got to run off with friends, staying out till all hours of the night, never saying where he was going or when he'd be back and leaving his younger brother to pick up the slack at home. Seeley tried never to complain, knowing it would only make things harder on his parents, but sometimes he wished he could have even a measure of the freedom his brother enjoyed._

_The boy was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of a voice behind him._

_He turned, and found three well-dressed teenagers coming his way. Furrowing his brow, he studied the boys as they approached. One wore an expensive leather jacket, another was letting his stupidity show by allowing that flashy watch to be visible in a neighborhood like this._

_"You Seeley Booth?"_

_Seeley, a thin boy who'd recently pleased himself by shooting up an inch and a half in two months, straightened to his full height. The boys continued to approach._

_"Maybe." He squared his shoulders as one of the boys blocked him from continuing down the street toward his home. The other two took positions to his front and side, sufficiently boxing him in with the back wall of Hickston's Hardware behind him in a small alley._

_"You know a kid named Charlie Phillips?" The boy directly in front of him folded his arms and grinned insincerely, showing off two rows of perfectly straight teeth._

_Seeley narrowed his eyes in suspicion and hesitated, giving he boys a quick once over. He found all three wearing matching pairs of black slacks and pricey patent leather shoes, a stupid idea in the slippery brown slush of melting snow. All three also donned the same green polo shirt with the Lion emblem on the collar. Oxford Duke Academy._

_"I might." Seeley finally responded, continuing his pattern of non-committal answers._

_The blonde boy who'd been speaking threw his head back in a forced chuckle before suddenly unfolding his arms and shoving Seeley back into the wall._

_Stunned, Seeley dropped the heavy bag he'd been holding, causing the glass bottles in it to break and the ground around them grew moist with his mother's cough medicine._

_Seeley recovered quickly and returned the gesture. The boy stumbled and Seeley drew back for a hard right hook but never got the chance to follow through as t__he boy on his right caught his arm and twisted it around behind him._

_"No fair!" Seeley immediately protested to being outnumbered in this fist fight. He didn't mind fighting, as long as everyone followed the rules of a fair play. No hits below the belt, and no double, or triple, teaming._

_He quickly found these other boys did not play by the rules as the boy on his left pulled back his head by his hair and held his other arm. Seeley watched in horror as the boy he'd pushed wound up and planted a hard hit in his stomach. _

_The boys released their grip and Seeley fell to his knees, the loose gravel on the pavement dug painfully into his skin but all he could focus on was recapturing the air that had suddenly escaped his lungs. A firm kick in his ribs sent him down further and he used his hands to keep from falling to his face, and in the process ground tiny peices of glass into them._

_The first boy knelt down next to his ear. "Make sure Charlie gets our message Boothy."_

_Seeley had his eyes screwed shut, but forced them open when he heard the footsteps leaving. He turned his dark brown eyes up at his attackers as they walked away without looking back._

_Right then the child Seeley died, as he forced himself to his feet, biting back a grunt of pain at the effort. He scowled and furiously wiped away a few silent tears with the back of a bloody hand. Tears shed for a pride wounded and an innocence lost._

"You did not!" Booth doubled over in laughter, or at least as doubled over as he could be in the cramped coach seating.

"I did. Hit him right in the nose. It bled for an hour, I'm told." Brennan blushed slightly, but couldn't help but smile at the memory.

"That's my Bones. Never backs down from a fight, whether it's gang leaders, serial killers or obnoxious high school football quarterbacks." Booth wiped his teary eyes while shaking his head.

"Oh I'm you're Bones, am I?" Brennan raised an eyebrow. _Why does that not upset me the way it should. I'm not property. I don't belong to anyone. And yet…_

Booth just grinned and shrugged.

"Did I say that?"

Both were slightly punchy, as it was nearing nine pm and they'd been awake since five that morning getting everything ready to go. Before the flight they'd been ready to kill each other, spending four hours at a busy airport waiting for a delayed flight would make anyone irritable.

But after spending a few hours bickering and teasing on the plane, they were starting to feel like themselves again, even if they were hyper from all the day's activities.

Now they were just sitting, waiting to be allowed off the aircraft. A flight attendant appeared at the front of the plane and soon the small space was a flurry of activity as people gathered their belongings and began to file off.

Booth stood and reached up to retrieve his and Brennen's carry-ons from the overhead compartment.

"Booth, I can get my own." Brennan protested and lunged at her partner to get back her bag.

In seconds Booth had shifted his weight slightly and moved his shoulder to dodge her hands. Surprised, Brennan stumbled into the large woman across the aisle who glared daggers at her.

"Sorry." Brennn mumbled.

"Booth I…" She turned around but Booth wasn't there. Looking toward the front of the plane, she spotted his brown shirt a few rows up. He'd fallen into step with the other passengers and was moving off the plane.

"Booth!" Brennan tried, as politely as possible, to push herself around the people between herself and Booth, but to no avail. The aisle was simply too small.

"See ya at baggage claim Bones!" Booth threw a grin over his shoulder and winked, before disappearing through the hatch.

Brennan folded her arms across her chest and scowled.

_I'm gonna break his arm._

--------------------------------------

"Are you kidding me?!" Booth shouted, using all his self-control to keep himself from climbing over the counter and strangling the airport clerk.

Brennan grinned smugly, biting her lip to keep quiet.

When she'd finally caught up to him at baggage claim, he had her two bags stood next to him and waiting, but he was still watching the carousel for his own luggage. Upon seeing the annoyed look on his face she decided against breaking his arm and settled for an, 'it serves you right' when his things were declared officially missing.

Booth took a deep breath and set his teeth.

"C'mon Bones." He turned and headed for the doors, where an SUV very similar to his own was waiting for them in the parking lot.

Brennan followed and waited until they were in the car for a few moments before attempting conversation.

"What will you do about your clothes?"

Booth glanced slowly at her, he'd heard the smile in her voice. He didn't like it.

"My parent's still have some of my clothes, I'll use those." He saw Brennan tense up out of the corner of his eye and added, "I'll drop you at the hotel first."

Nodding, Brennan continued to stare out the window, glad he hadn't invited her to meet his parents.

Even in the dark she could see the traditional architecture indicative of colonial America in most of the buildings' lining the streets.

_I wonder if we'll have time to visit some museums while we're here?_

She turned to ask Booth this very question but found that they were stopped in front of the hotel.

"I'll be out here to pick you up at seven tomorrow."

"You're not staying here?"

"Nope. I've decided to stay at my parent's house. I haven't seen them in a while and that fifty bucks a day will go a lot farther if I'm not wasting it on room and board."

Brennan frowned, "That doesn't seem completely ethical since you're…"

"Bones," Booth raised one hand to silence her, "Just be ready at seven. We have a case to solve and I doubt our victim really cares where I sleep."

His face suddenly brightened, "If we get a break or two I'll take you around to see the sights."

Brennan smiled.

"Could we visit a few of the historical museums?" She was almost bouncing in her chair.

_God she's cute..Wait! Don't do that. There's a line. I drew a line. Partners. Partners aren't cute. _

Booth sighed. "Bones. Not _those_ sights. You want to do what every other tourist does, get a brochure, a map and a disposable camera. You wanna see the real Philly, you come with me."

Brennan rolled her eyes and exited the car.

"Fine Booth. But first, we have a case to solve."

"Haha Bones, I know that."

------------------------------------

He hadn't been back home since Thanksgiving the previous fall, but everything on his street seemed the same.

Booth hardly paid attention as his hands steered the vehicle on a route he knew like the back of his hand. His parent's had moved out of the town to this little subdivision a little while after h e turned sixteen.

A series of upsetting incidents had convinced Mr. And Mrs. Booth that intercity Philadelphia was no place to raise their sons.

"Mom?" Booth was a little worried to find the front door unlocked after dark. When he stepped inside and was greeted by the sound of humming and dinner being prepared in the kitchen, he knew all was well.

"Mom?" He called again, kicking off his shoes by the door.

"Seeley!" Caroline Booth appeared in the kitchen doorway, wiping her hands on her apron. "You're here!"

She met her son half-way between the kitchen and the front door in the middle of the dining room.

"Hi mom." Booth leaned down and hugged his mother tightly, relishing in the familiar scent of hairspray and lavender that lingered on her clothing.

"Nevermind that 'Hi' Seeley. Have you eaten?" She lead the way to the kitchen. "How was you're flight? How is Parker? You should really have him call me you know. Oh, what am I saying? You never call either." She turned around with her hands on her hips, teasing in her brown eyes.

"Oh, I call Mom. Give me a little credit here."

"Seeley, why is you're hair sticking up like that?" She licked the tips of her fingers and reached up to smooth his hair.

Booth ducked away from her and moved toward the stove.

"Leave it alone Mom. I did it that way on purpose." He lifted the lid on one of the pots and inhaled a soothing aroma of Tomato and Basil.

"Watcha cookin'?"

"Spaghetti and Meatballs."

"Mmm, my favorite." Booth grinned like a little boy.

"Seeley," she patted his cheek, "who knows her son?"

"You do Ma'." Booth pecked her on the cheek and moved out of the way so she could finish dinner.

He shed his coat and tie and pulled open the refrigerator.

"Oh, hey, where's Dad?" Booth found a can of beer behind leftover Pasta Primavera and quickly claimed it.

Caroline went rigid and hesitated before responding.

"He…went hunting Sweetheart. Last Wednesday."

Booth frowned, leaning against the counter as he took a few sips thoughtfully.

"Mom, hunting season ended a week ago." Booth watched his mother's back. She still stood at the stove, but the spoon in the pot no longer moved in a slow swirling motion.

"Mom?" Booth crossed the kitchen toward her, worry starting to seep into his stomach.

Caroline turned abruptly and moved toward the refrigerator.

"Let's eat, shall we Seeley? Do you want Garlic bread with your spaghetti?" She asked brightly.

Booth set down the can, his face contorted in confusion.

"Mom, what's going on?" Pulling her out of the refrigerator he turned her toward him, and looked down into her brown eyes. He was surprised to find them slightly fearful.

"Let's not talk about this now Seeley, okay?" She tried to move out of his grip, but he held her steady.

"No, mom, not okay. Where's dad? Truth." Booth's tone was level, but demanding, his inner cop not allowing him to take another vague answer.

He held his breath when she looked up at him. He found her looking surprisingly tired and…old.

"Mom?" His voice was now almost pleading, the tough guy cop melted with his determination. All he wanted now was to know what was bothering his mother.

Caroline shook her head and looked at the ground.

"I'm sorry Seeley."

**_So go ahead and review now. No! Don't you dare leave this page without poking the button! I can see you..._**


	3. This can't be happening

**_lol, sorry about the cliffe guys. I think my favorite and most faithful reviewer figured out what's up, but there's still A LOT to come, so bear with me. (is it 'bear' or 'bare'?)_**

_1978_

_Seeley flipped his longish curly brown hair out of his eyes and squinted as the mid afternoon sun beat down on him._

_"Daddy?" He looked down at the top of his father's head._

_"Yeah?" Sam Booth held his son's feet with large hands, keeping the boy who was straddling his neck securely in place._

_"Where are we going?"_

_"I told you buddy, Veterans Stadium."_

_"Yeah Seel. Dontcha remember? We're gonna see the Eagles in a playoff game!" Seeley's brother Jared threw a toy football over his head and caught it as he walked beside his father._

_"Oh yeah." From his vantage point on top of his father's shoulders, Seeley could see what looked like gazzilions of cars all around. He wondered briefly how they'd ever find their own car after the football game was over that afternoon._

Daddy will find the car. He always does.

_"Do you remember which team the Eagles are playing today bud?" Sam had been working hard to instill in his sons a love for football ever since Jared was born nine years ago. He felt especially pleased, though, that Seeley was showing an aptitude for the game, even at the tender age of five._

_"Umm…" Seeley furrowed his brows thoughtfully._

_"The Atlanta Falcons!" Jared shouted, jumping up and down excitedly before running ahead a few cars to retrieve his football._

_"Hey! I wanted to answer it!" Seeley whined and glared at his older brother._

_"It's alright bud."_

_"But I knew it Dad!"_

_Sam patted his son's foot. "I now you did. It's alright.."_

_Seeley didn't respond but Sam could tell the little boy was still tense on his shoulders._

_"Hey buddy, how about when we get to the stadium I'll get you an Eagles baseball cap. Would you like that?"_

_"Cool!" Seeley immediately brightened and was contentedly quiet for a few moments._

_"Daddy?"_

_"Yeah?"_

_"Can you go faster? It's taking a long time."_

_Sam just grinned and rolled his eyes before breaking out into a light trot, causing little Seeley to explode with giggles as his hair flew up and down in time with his father's footsteps._

Booth swallowed hard and squeezed his mother's shoulders.

"Sorry for what Mom?" He waited until she met his gaze. "Sorry for what?"

Caroline took a deep breath.

"You're father is not here Seeley." She began shakily.

"Okay." _Nothing to panic about._ "Where is he?"

The woman let out at defeated sigh and turned away from her son.

"I…I don't know."

Booth watched her take a few steps away from him, covering her face with her hands.

His legs were like lead, he couldn't move. All he could do was plead for her to continue.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

The older woman whirled around toward him, her face was red and Booth took an uncertain step backward at the sight of wetness on her cheeks.

_Crying? Mom…Mom doesn't cry. She's…Mom. She's strong, stronger than the rest of us…she said it was how she survived being the only woman in a house full of men. Mom doesn't cry._

"I'm sorry Seeley. This isn't how I wanted you to find out."

Booth felt like screaming. Why couldn't she just spit it out? He crossed the room and took her by the shoulders, giving her a slight shake.

"Find what out Mom? Please tell me what is going on." His voice sounded tight with worry, even to his own ears. His mother was never like this.

Caroline Booth was never tired, never old and certainly never weak. But here she was, standing right in front of him being all those things.

Suddenly she burst into tears effectivly shaking her son to his core.

"He left me Seeley! He found out…he found out about Jerry and he left me."

Booth's eyes widened and he pulled away from his mother as if he'd been burned.

Unable to withstand the look of shock on Booth's face, Caroline turned away in shame and continued speaking.

"Ten days ago your father came home early from a hunting trip. I was…with him...Jerry…Your father…he…saw things he shouldn't have." She was whispering to the dishes, her head bowed low over the sink.

Booth's eyes darted around the kitchen, trying to comprehend what he'd just heard. He felt like a rug had been pulled out from under him and got the distinct impression he was falling. He stumbled into a nearby chair.

_An affair? Mom cheated on Dad? How is that possible? Why did she do it? How long has it been going on? What did Dad say? What does this mean?_

His mind was racing, but all his questions caught in his throat as he stared at his mother's back. She was slumped far over the kitchen sink, her head hanging in dispair.

Boot let his heavy head fall into his hands and breathed deep, fighting back emotions that threatened to end him right there.

Slowly, the image he'd always had of his mother, a laughing woman so full of love and strength and honesty, slowly it faded away. Only Booth didn't know what to replace it with.

The woman before him was not the woman he knew as Caroline Booth. The Caroline Booth who would fight to the death to keep her family together, keep them safe.

Booth didn't feel safe.

"I didn't tell you because I kept hoping he would come back. I haven't seen Jerry since."

The hint of sadness in her whisper at mention of _his_ name was like a punch in the chest and Booth shot out of his chair.

"You miss him don't you?! You're own husband of thirty-five years is gone and you're worried about seeing your lover again?" Booth's voice boomed through the thick silence in the kitchen.

"How could you mom? After all the grief you gave me for having Parker out of wedlock." He started shaking his head, pacing behind the large Oak dining room table. "After all your high and mighty speeches to me and Jared about our multiple partners? How dare you!"

"Seeley, no it wasn't like that." Caroline turned around, desperate for some sort of forgiveness or compassion in her son's eyes.

"It was a single slip up Seeley, a moment of weakness." She started toward him and he immediately backed away.

"Like hell it was Mom!" He threw up his hands and closed his eyes, but his voice never faltered.

_A slip up is a drunken kiss in a bar. This was…something else._

Caroline stepped toward Booth again, attempting to calm him, but he put up his hand to stop her.

"Don't. Just...don't okay?" He bit his lower lip and met her gaze once more.

The look of longing, fear and remorse on her face made him nauseas.

_He was here. This guy was in our house._

"I have to go." He said in voice barely above a whisper.

He snatched up his coat and tie and headed for the door.

"Seeley!"

Booth slammed the front door, ran to his SUV and tore out of the driveway.

Suddenly the familiar streets of his hometown stabbed at his heart instead of warming it.

He wanted to forget everything that had just happened, forget his mother's face and his father's pain. Forget the betrayal he felt looming in his heart, but every street corner reminded him of them.

His head was spinning, he felt like he couldn't breathe.

_I shouldn't be reacting like this. I'm a grown man. I can handle this._

Booth tried to take a deep breath, but it got caught in his throat and turned into a sob.

He gripped the steering wheel at the next red light and closed his eyes.

He didn't feel like a grown man.

In DC he was a sniper trained Special Agent who solved murders.

In Philadelphia he was a young man dressed in army fatigues, putting on a brave face as he waved his family goodbye, while inside he was crying like a baby.

In DC he was the father of a five-year-old boy and the only FBI agent willing to spend his days interacting with the unintentionally condescending but ultimately endearing Squint Squad.

In Philadelphia he was a cocky kid who loved baseball and ate Philly Cheese steaks like they were going out of style.

In DC he felt like a grown man.

In Philadelphia he felt lost.

A car honked behind him and Booth slammed his foot on the gas even before his eyes were fully open. He wasn't driving aimlessly anymore. He knew where he wanted...needed to be.

-----------------------------

Brennan rolled over in the dark room and stared at the ceiling. Something had woken her and before making another move, she tried to identify it, her muscles already tensing for a fight.

She sighed when she heard the sound again, a gentle rapping on the door. Groaning, Brennan managed to roll the rest of the way off the bed and stumble to the door, not bothering to look at the clock.

She didn't care if it was four in the afternoon or three in the morning, she just wanted to sleep.

Rubbing the her eyes, she yawned and peered through the peephole out into the bright hotel hallway.

_Booth?_

Immediately she unlocked the door and swung it open, glad she'd decided to wear her most comfortable pajama pants and a baggy t-shirt to bed that night.

"Booth is everything alright?" Brennan tilted her head to the side.

Booth stood with his hands jammed in his pockets, staring at the ground beneath his feet. He was silent for a few moments and she was about to repeat her question when she saw an almost microscopic shake of his head.

She took a step closer to him and touched his arm, noting his clenched jaw muscles curiously. Booth forced his gaze up to meet hers, his head still down cast.

Reading the question in her eyes, he took a deep breath.

"My um…my parents…they're…" He frowned. What were his parents?

Finally, he shrugged. "I don't know what they are." He smiled wryly, but Brennan didn't return it.

She surprised herself two fold then.

She knew exactly what that look in his eyes was, a look she'd seen in her own eyes too many times before. And for once she knew exactly what to do about it.

Pursing her lips, she pushed aside a voice in her mind that said she was about to walk back into that gray area between 'friendship' and 'romance' with her partner, and stepped forward.

Wrapping her arms around Booth's large frame, Brennan held her breath and waited for his reaction. Booth was too relieved to be stunned and un-pocketed his hands and returned the hug.

He laid his cheek against her head and closed his eyes.

"Thank you Bones." He whispered, and she squeezed his middle in response.

_You'd do the same for me Booth. You always have._

**_Alright, lets get down to the B&B shall we?_**


	4. I know how you feel

**_Hope everyone's weekend going great. Especially my reviewers, I hope a chocolate covered shirtless Booth shows up at your front door!_**

* * *

_1981_

_Seeley squinted, the setting sun was not providing much light as his eyes shifted from right to left smoothly. His brother was out there somewhere._

_The Booth family was camping over spring break and Jared had convinced Seeley to play soldier after dinner._

_The fire cast sporadic shadows on the trees, making things that stood still seem to move and things that were one thing appear to be something entirely different. Seeley found this irritating as it was messing with his ability to judge distances._

_Caroline and Sam were curled up under a blanket somewhere behind him near the fire, watching their youngest son as he crept into the forest._

_A twig snapped beneath his shoe and Seeley froze. Jared was pretending to be an army sergent who'd done something called AWOL, Seeley's father said that was bad. Since the youngest Booth decided he wanted to be the good guy, he was supposed to find Jared and bring him back to the campsite for questioning and toasted marshmallows._

_Instinctively Seeley was an alert child, cautious and careful almost to a fault, and it seemed like hours would pass between each move he made, trying to make out Jared's form before he ran again._

_Jared frowned from his vantage point behind a tree. His younger brother almost always found him when he was hiding. When Jared asked him how he knew where he was, Seeley would just shrug and say, 'my tummy told me'._

_Well not this time. He wasn't going down without a fight this time._

_"Over here Colonel dork." Jared stepped out from behind the tree waving his arms wildly, a signature Booth grin plastered on his face._

_Seeley's eyes shot toward the sound and he grinned right back at his brother._

_"You shouldn't have shown yourself, now I'm gonna hafta take you into custody."_

_Jared rolled his eyes and took off between the trees, heading for a small clearing._

_"Boys! Stay close!" Their mother called out. Sam was already standing, pulling his wife to her feet next to him._

_"Seeley looks pretty determined." Sam noted, his fingers laced with hers as they strolled off in the direction their sons had gone._

_"Is he ever anything else?" She asked laughing lightly. Caroline wore Sam's sweatshirt but still felt the chill of night approaching and she leaned into her husband. He turned and kissed her hair, smiling at the softness in her face when she turned up toward him._

_Suddenly a scream rang out in the night and the two pulled apart, taking off down the path to the clearing._

_The light of dusk swept over the field and they saw the figure of one of their sons standing, waving his arms wildly._

_"Mom! Dad!" Jared stared in horror as his younger brother gripped his side and winced in pain. The moon shone brightly and he could see a thick, dark substance oozing through his sweaty fingers._

_Instantly his parents were at his side._

_"What happened?" Sam questioned, roughly pulling Jared aside so Caroline could tend to Seeley, who lay in a ball on the ground._

_"Oh, my baby. Seeley, are you okay?" She brushed his hair out of his eyes and saw tearstains on his cheeks. "Jared? What did you do?"_

_Tears were spilling down the other boys' cheeks as he tried to explain to his father what had happened._

_Seeley shook his head._

_"It wasn't Jared's fault Mom. We were wrestling, I wanted to take him back to camp for questioning. When I rolled over something cut me." Seeley moved his fingers to show his mother a deep gash just above his right hip bone._

_"Oh my God." She breathed._

_"That's going to need stitches." Sam said, already scooping up his youngest and jogging back toward camp._

_Caroline took Jared's hand and followed._

_"I didn't mean to Mom. We were just playin'! I didn't mean to hurt him. I didn't know that glass was there." Jared sobbed, he was scared he'd seriously injured his younger brother._

_Caroline inwardly cursed the teenagers who often partied in this clearing. There were just as responsible for this as her sons were._

_"I know you didn't, Jay. We never intend to hurt the ones we love."

* * *

_

Brennan bit her lip as she walked back into the lounge area of her suite. Booth hadn't said a word since they'd come inside. He was worrying her.

"Here you go." She handed him a cup full of green tea, "It'll help you relax."

Receiving no response from him, she settled down next to him. He still sat hunched forward staring blankly at the wall.

Brennan watched him for a few minutes and tried to place the look on his face. It was one she'd never seen on him before, and the shivers it sent up her spine told her it was not a good look.

"Are you alright?" She whispered, placing her mug on the coffee table in front of them.

Booth looked at her for the first time and licked his dry lips.

After a long silence, he finally spoke.

"I'm finally starting to understand how you felt when you found out about your parents." Brennan tensed, but he continued speaking.

"You felt betrayed, like everything you'd ever known was a lie. You felt lost…you were wondering if you were destined to follow in their footsteps. You felt like everything good that had happened in your life before was cheapened somehow." He took a deep breath and turned back to his steaming cup of tea but felt no desire to sip it.

"You felt like you were alone." He finished quietly.

Brennen frowned and blinked her suddenly watery eyes.

_Exactly._

She scooted closer to him and touched his hand, grasping it within hers.

"You're not alone Booth. You were there for me, I'll be there for you."

He turned to her, but the pain in his heart didn't allow him to speak.

"You don't have to tell me anything right now. We can deal with this tomorrow. Okay? Right now, you need to get some rest. The local PD is expecting us at seven thirty tomorrow morning."

Booth nodded and started to get up.

"Where are you going? Back to your parents?" She stood as well and he turned quickly. She didn't think that was where he was headed, but were else could he go?

"Yeah..um…definitely NOT." He laughed bitterly. "No, I'm just going to go find a room or something and then I need to call my brother."

She frowned. "Why aren't you staying here?"

"You've only got one bed Bones."

"Well, yea, but it's in the bedroom. You can sleep on the couch if you'd like. You're unlikely to find another place to stay at this hour." She looked down, a blush slowly creeping into her cheeks.

Booth grinned for the first time all evening.

"Okay then. If you're sure."

Brennan's face immediately brightened and disappeared into her room, trying not to think about why that made her so happy.

She returned a moment later with a pillow, a blanket and something clutched in her hand.

"Here." She took his hand and placed a small key in his palm.

"What's this?" He asked, looking at her quizzically.

"Key to the mini bar." She shrugged when he gave her a strange look. "You'll need it. Trust me. I know a little something about parent troubles."

Before he could answer she turned, blushing as she headed toward the bedroom, feeling completely unsure as to how he would react to her gesture.

_What makes you think he'll deal with this, whatever this is, like you do? Not everyone tries to drown their sorrows with red wine. Although Booth strikes me as more of the hard liquor type. I hope he isn't offended. I didn't mean to be presumptuous. I just meant that he might find a sudden change in his social awareness uncomfortable and since parents tend to play such a key role in development and impressions of them can fortify or demolish the self-image of a child he might…Oh great. Now **I** need a drink._

Booth's voice ripped Brennan from her rambling thoughts.

"Thank you Temperance." The words sounded lame to him. They weren't enough.

Brennan let out the breath she'd been holding and turned around, the sound of her given name from his lips gave her goosebumps every time.

_Stop it Brennan!_

"We're partners Booth." She smiled once more, and shut the door to her room.

**_Oh yay! B&B! lol. Now make me say YAY and hit the button!! _**


	5. Understanding and a nice Massage

**_Thanks to all the positive reviews, you guys are a great bunch. Really good at catching the little things I do trying to make them seem more true to character. Hope you like this chap. __

* * *

_ **

_1988_

_The sky was gray and ominous, as if the whole universe knew the sadness of the day. Not a sound was uttered as the priest finished the prayer and the small group of funeral attendees crossed themselves._

_Seeley watched numbly as Mr. and Mrs. Harrison approached their son's casket. Mrs. Harrison clung to her husband as the torrent of tears made her almost too weak to stand._

_He couldn't bear to watch as them as they said 'goodbye' to their sixteen-year-old son, Seeley's best friend. He turned his head toward the small display of pictures surrounded by a rose wreathe to his right._

_In the center, Jacob's most recent school photo stared at the funeral attendants with that wide, dimpled smile. Next to that were a few smaller 3x5 photos of Jacob as a child or with his family._

_In the upper right corner, though, was a picture that made Seeley forget to breathe when his eyes fell on it. From inside a local fields' dugout, Seeley, Jacob, Charlie and Troy grinned up at the camera. Their faces and uniforms were dirty, but it was obvious by the ecstatic look on their faces that they'd won the game._

We always won, didn't we boys? Even when we lost.

_Seeley closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Jacob was gone, it' would never be that way again. He pulled his black coat tighter around himself and looked over the crowd of people again. So many were crying, hugging, trying not to completely fall apart with the knowledge of a young life being torn from the world too soon._

_But not Seeley. Not Troy. They'd already cried._

_The car wreck had been the leading story on the local news for almost three days. Seeley had walked away with a sprained wrist and a concussion, the luckiest of all them. Troy was on crutches from the severe break in his right leg, along with a large bandage on his head showing where it had smashed into the passenger side window. Charlie was still in critical condition at the hospital, and Jacob…Jacob was in that box not ten feet away._

_"C'mon man, it's our turn."_

_Seeley turned and was startled to find Troy hobbling past him toward Jacob's casket. He threw an uncertain glance toward Jacob's parents, who smiled at him reassuringly, before following Troy._

_Wordlessly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a worn baseball, turning it slowly in his hand. A half-smile broke out on his lips when his eyes landed on the signature of one Ken Griffy Jr. just above the lace. He sighed and set it carefully on top of the shiny box._

_"You're signed ball, man?" Troy couldn't believe it, he'd always made it seem like he'd sell his own grandmother to keep that ball in his possession._

_Seeley just shrugged. "He should have caught it anyway, I shoved him at the last second and got it myself."_

_Troy smiled briefly and met his friend in a one-handed hug, clapped him on the back twice and pulled back to hobble over to his parents._

_Seeley began walking back to his spot in the outer circle, but when he got there, he kept going. His mind felt stuck, all he wanted was to get away. From everything._

_He walked until the sound of the priest's prayer was carried away. Walked until the sobs were drowned out by the wind whipping at his face and ears. Walked until the pain in his legs hurt more than the pain in his heart._

Booth crept silently toward the suite's kitchen. He'd hardly had time to figure out where he was when his eyes suddenly popped open at quarter to seven that morning, before he heard what he was almost positive was someone singing softly in the kitchen.

_Is that…No, it can't be…Is Bones singing Fergalicious?_

Already shaking this absurd thought from his head, he rounded the corner and stood in the doorway.

There Bones stood at the coffee maker, the headphones from her ipod snugly fitted in her ears, spelling out F-E-R-G-L-I-C-I-O-U-S with her plump lips and surprisingly agile hips.

If Booth's jaw hadn't been on the floor, he would have laughed out loud. But for some reason, with the way she was moving, her hands trailing over herself in a way that can only be described as provocative, Booth found he'd lost the ability to speak.

Brennan closed her eyes, drew her hands up over her head, and let her hips lead her in a slow turn circle in time with the music. When she opened them again, a very astonished partner of hers was staring at her, wide eyed.

Her heart seized in her chest and she brought her hands back down and ripped the headphones from her ears. She'd gotten so tense she looked like she was ready to salute.

Both stood in silence for a few moments, standing rigid as their cheeks turned various shades of crimson.

Booth's voice returned to him as a large grin spread across his face.

"What was that?!"

Brennan immediately turned to the coffee maker to avoid his eyes.

"Well the last time I went out with Angela she said I didn't dance right this song was on a tv show last night and the woman in it was dancing like that so I assumed that was the proper way to conduct oneself when that type of music is playing I was trying to learn to dance to it." She said all in one breath.

"That wasn't dancing Bones. That was sex with clothes on." Booth came to stand dangerously close to her and intentionally reached over her to get a mug from the cupboard.

Brennan frowned. "Was I not doing it right?"

"No, no. From what I saw, you were doing it perfect." He cleared his throat and looked away, so he completely missed the delighted look on her face when he said that.

"Just, uh," he coughed, "don't do it around me anymore, okay?"

"Why not? Can't control yourself Agent Booth?" She asked in the most seductive voice she could muster, and was satisfied to see him turn an impossible shade of red and leave the kitchen quickly, muttering something about calling his brother.

_Yeah, let him squirm for a change._ Brennan stirred their coffee, a triumphant smile donning her lips.

He was out on the balcony with his cell phone when she brought the coffee into the lounge. Brennan watched him for a moment as she sipped her coffee. He wore the jeans and t-shirt from the night before and he was repeatedly running his hand through his hair, so tense. The glass doors were cracked open slightly and bits and pieces of his conversation kept floating in on the breeze.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Jared…well, do you have the phone number for that place?…thanks."

Her stomach grumbled and she glanced at the clock. It was just past seven.

She ran to pick up the phone and dial room service.

"Hello, this is Dr. Temperance Brennan in room 344…Yes, I'd like to order breakfast for two…One bowl of cornflakes and one plate of scrambled eggs and sausage please…yes…oh, wait!…Is there any way you could get a hold of a men's suit for me?…yes, that would be perfect, just charge it to my room…uh-huh….yes….the flashiest tie you can find please…Thank you."

She hung up just in time to hear Booth begin shouting into his phone as he gripped the banister of the balcony with strength that made the muscles in his forearm bulge and his biceps pulse.

"Take some responsibility for once in your life Jared! She needs someone to be here with her…No, I don't know where he is or I wouldn't be calling you…he just needs some time to cool off Jay, he'll call soon…No! I can't I'm on a case…Yes, Jared, I really think it's nessasary."

Brennan was slowly approaching the door and stopped a foot away from the glass, looking out at him as he snapped his phone shut and practically crushed it in his fist. He had his back to the railing and after a few moments brought his eyes up and saw her staring at him from inside the darkened hotel room.

"Booth, you alright?" She'd gazed into his deep brown eyes for a moment more before he turned around and bent over to lean his elbows on the railing, staring fifty feet to the streets below.

Brennan walked over to him and placed a tentative hand on his shoulder.

He took a deep breath. "My parents are separating Bones."

"God, Booth, I'm so sorry."

He shook his head, rubbing his palms together slowly.

"My Dad…walked in on my Mom with another man. I found out last night, she hasn't heard from him in over a week."

Brennan frowned as she took in what he was saying, understanding completely now why he seemed so distraught. Booth had always been very close to his parents.

She found herself unconsciously squeezing his shoulder the way he usually did, and felt felt large tension knots in his shoulders.

"You need to relax Booth. You'll give yourself a migraine."

He snorted and looked at her.

"Relax? How do you propose I do that?"

Brennan thought for a moment and then took his hand, pulling him back inside the room.

"Bones? What are you doing?"

"Lie down."

His eyebrows shot up. "Are you trying to take advantage of me Bones?"

Rolled her eyes and tilted her head in annoyance.

"Lie down yourself or I will lay you down." She pointed at the floor and glared at him.

"Fine fine fine. No need for threats."

"Thank you." She knelt down beside him and started pressing her thumbs and the palms of her hands into various spots on his back.

"Wow." Booth groaned and closed his eyes, "That feels really good." He could practically see his muscles loosening under her touch, and he tried not to notice her close proximity, though it was by no means an easy task.

"It's called Shiatsu, an ancient form of Japanese massage. I learned it while I was in…"

"Bones? This is a lot more relaxing if you aren't talking."

She frowned, at him, but complied. For a moment at least.

"Booth?"

"Hmm?" Booth hardly heard her. He was in heaven. Dr. Temperance Brennan was giving him a massage in her hotel room. Did it get any better?

"What's with you and your brother?"

Booth opened his eyes but didn't move.

"Excuse me?"

_That's Bones. Eternally, gracelessly blunt._

"Well, it's just that you were very short and tense with him on the phone and I have to assume that that stems from deep seated relationship issues with him and…"

"Don't analyze me Bones." He sat up and scooted away so he was leaning against the couch, his arms on his knees. "Jared and I are…different."

Brennan flipped some unruly hair out of her eyes and pulled her feet underneath her, waiting for him to continue.

"He's just always been, sort of…irresponsible. He's a good guy for the most part, he just seems to be a magnet for trouble. He and I never really have seen eye-to-eye...on anything." Booth smiled slightly and shook his head, but Brennan was still confused.

"And yet you still want him to be with your mother. After everything they've both done?"

_It's not logical. Why continue to bond with people who seem to only hurt you?_

"They're my family Bones. My Mom and my brother. No matter what they've done. You should understand that, look at you and Russ and your dad." He said as gently as possible.

For a second she looked thoughtful. Then slowly other emotions, anger, realization and finally understanding, passed over her eyes as well. She nodded.

"I do understand Booth."

Without thinking he reached out and squeezed her hand, to his surprise, she didn't pull away or hit him. She just smiled looked away shyly.

"I know you do Bones. So do I."

_He really does understand. If it was even possible he has learned me even more because of this. He truly does understand me in a way no one else can._

Any thoughts Booth might have been having at that moment were interrupted by a knock at the door and Brennan jumping up to answer it.

"Okay, thanks." She shut the door and wheeled a small cart into the center of the room.

"Mmmm what's this?" He approached the food, his mouth already watering as the smell of eggs and sausage filled the room.

"Breakfast." She handed him a plate and then a hanger with a black clothing bag on it.

He looked at her questioningly.

"I got the people downstairs to square up a suit for you since I was pretty sure you hadn't gotten one while you were at home yesterday."

Booth grinned at her. "Thanks Bones. I'll go take a shower. Oh, and you can look at the file while I'm in there, it's on the coffee table." He took the plate and clothes toward the bathroom.

"Oh and Bones?"

Brennan looked up from the file as she poured milk over her cereal. "Yeah?"

"It's round up. They rounded up a suit for me." Then he disappeared inside the bathroom, his laughter traveling through the door to the thouroughly irritated Forensic Anthropologist outside.

**_Yeah baby...nice right? _**


	6. The Case

_**Well a couple people have figured out how to post and get around this horrible little problem we're having uploading stories, if you wanna know how, PM me and I'll let you know. Hope you like this**_

* * *

_1984  
_

_Most twelve-year-old boys want nothing more than to be exactly like their fathers, and Seeley Booth was no exception. _

_When Seeley got home from school everyday, he did his homework and chores immediately. Why? That way when his father got home from work two hours later, he would be ready to head out to the garage with him to work on one of the classic cars he was restoring. _

_"I need a…three eighths wrench there Bud." Sam called from his position underneath a 1969 Corvette. _

_Seeley nodded and rummaged through the toolbox until he found the correct wrench. He handed it to his father and resumed his work on removing the dead battery._

_"Dad?" _

_"Yeah?"_

_Seeley leaned over the edge of the engine so he could see his father below, effectively covering the front of his shirt with grime his mother would scold him for later. _

_"Can we do flames for the paint job?" _

_Sam chuckled, "I don't know bud, we…"_

_"No way!" Jared emerged from the driver's seat where he had been rewiring the dashboard. His face ws covered with dirt and peaking out from under shaggy brown locks and a backwards ball cap. _

_"No way are you painting some stupid fire on my car!"_

_"It's not your car Jared!" Seeley stuck out his chin at his brother, who held at least six inches and 60lbs on his wiry frame. But Seeley wasn't scared, he never backed down from a fight. Especially not with his brother._

_Sam cleared his throat. "Actually Bud…it is." _

_Seeley's jaw dropped. __"But Dad! You said…"_

_"I know. I know what I said, Seeley, but your brother is turning sixteen in a few weeks and he asked for this car as a present."_

_Jared smiled smugly and wiped his hands on a rag from his back pocket. That triumphant feeling slipped a little, however, when he saw his brother's face fall. _

_Seeley was disappointed. Jared could deal with anger, but how was he supposed to enjoy the upper hand when his younger brother was disappointed? _

_Seeley slowly put down the pliers he'd been using and started toward the house. _

Great. Now he's upset.

_Jared took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. _

_"Alright fine, Buddy, if you promise to keep helping Dad and me on the car…I'll let you put flames on it." He'd mumbled at the ground, but Seeley understood every word. _

_His brown eyes lit up as if he'd just gotten a brand new dirt bike as a cereal box prize and with a childish exuberance he'd only just begun to grow out of, Seeley ran to his brother and wrapped him in a firm hug. _

_"You're gonna love it Jay, I know it. It'll be SO cool! It will look like the engine's on fire and…"_

_"Yeah, yeah. Don't touch me." Jared pushed his brother away, but neither of them could stop grinning that signature Booth grin. _

_Jared caught his Dad's tender stare, obviously pleased with seeing his two perpetually feuding sons getting along for once, and promptly wiped the goofy grin of his face. Folding his arms over his chest in his usual it-ain't-worth-my-time posture, he kicked a bolt across the floor with the tip of his shoe._

_Sam's smile faltered slightly and he slid back under the car, shaking his head and muttering to himself. _

_Seeley had already gone back to his work on the battery and Jared walked past him toward the house, ruffling his brother's floppy hair roughly as he went by. _

_"I've got to go change for work. Don't finish while I'm gone you guys."_

_"While your gone?" Seeley scoffed, falling easily back into their button-pushing relationship. "We'll be lucky to have this bucket of bolts finished by the time you get your license!" _

_"You mess up my car Seeley Booth and I'll wipe the concrete with your face!" Jared shouted from inside._

_"Good luck catching me Old Man!" _

_"I know where you sleep Kid!" _

_Sam Booth chuckled softly at his sons' banter, wishing he could stop time in that moment. That moment when everything in his life seemed perfect. _

_"Hey bud? Hand me a new oil filter would ya'?"_

* * *

"So, how did you get this case anyway?" Brennan shut her door and met Booth at the front of the SUV, kit in hand.

"Some sort of Win, Lose or Draw game of Russian Roulette down at FBI headquarters. You know how it is Bones."

Brennan stared at him as she passed underneath the crime scene tape, her mouth slightly ajar as she tried to comprehend what he was saying.

"No. I really don't Booth. That was a convoluted mixed metaphor and I have no idea how to interpret it."

Booth smiled to himself.

"Yeah. I knew that I guess. It means Local PD is all wrapped up in a high-profile case having something to do with the Governor. Seein' as it's election time and all, the FBI stepped up and decided to take this case off their hands. Cullen knew I was from Philly, so he bumped it to me. That and the fact that I work with you."

The pride with which he said the last part made her smile and she tuned away, hoping Booth wouldn't notice.

"Wow, what happened here?" Brennan scanned the crime scene as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail.

The whole left side of the house they were approaching had collapsed and was black from smoke damage while the right half looked ready to fall right off it's severely cracked foundation. It still smelled of fire and the endless static from police radios created white noise that drowned out most of the conversations happening all around.

"You're standing in what's left in one of the biggest Meth manufacturing operations in the city, probably the state." Booth answered her, as he stepped carefully over what was left of a dirty yellow couch in the front yard.

"Agent Booth! Over here." Another agent waved to them from the other side of the half-standing building and Booth guided Brennan toward him, his hand on her lower back.

"Watch your step Bones. There's a lot of wood and debris here, if you trip and fall on a rusty nail and end up contracting Tetanus or something Goodman will kill me."

"I'm not going to fall Booth." Just as the words left her mouth she slipped off an unsteady plank of wood and lost her balance. Booth reacted and instinctively grabbed her wrist, pulling her back up and simultaneously spinning her to face him.

Brennan found she one hand on Booth's chest and the other still clutching her kit.

"You were saying?" He teased, enjoying her close proximity just a moment longer than she would have liked. She pulled away glaring at him. Booth held up his hands in surrender.

"I was just trying to help."

Brennan decided to ignore his comment and snapped on her latex gloves to lean far over the charred skeleton.

"Did you say Meth? As in Methamphetamines?"

"Yeah. This place was a pretty huge Meth lab, they lifted over 200lbs of the stuff already cooked with intent to sell, and had the ingredients to make plenty more where that came from. Local police were still investigating when it blew up two days ago, injuring five, killing three. When digging one of the survivors out, they found our guy here."

She let her eyes run the length of the skeleton as she collected her thoughts, still absently probing for information.

"Meth labs are highly dangerous, one as big as you describe would have been smelled by the neighbors, why didn't they do anything about it?"

"Bones, we're in the middle of South Philly. They're not exactly in the habit of talking to the police down here. Bedsides, they probably liked having a Meth lab so close, much more convenient. Like a corner store…but for drugs."

Brennan gave him a look and he knew it was time to stop joking and get down to business. He pulled a small notebook out of the pocket of his jacket and nodded for her to begin.

"Male. Caucasian between 45 and 55 years old. Cause of death seems to be a broken neck. Here you can see, between the C4 and C5 vertebrae, it's been severed. I can't give you a definite time of death, but it could be relatively recent. The chemicals used to create Meth would have leaked into the air, advancing decomp. He also died before the explosion, the flesh was burned post mortem."

She stood, pulling off her gloves.

"We need to send these back to the Jeffersonian for Hodgins and Zach to look at. The skull has some pretty severe fratures, but Angela should be able to put a face on it as well."

A few agents had stopped their work collecting evidence to watch her read this thing, a skeleton that was barely recognizable as human, as if it were an article in the New York Times.

Brennan didn't notice, already retrieving her cell phone from her pocket to call Zach.

But Booth noticed.

"Wow, Agent Booth! She's something else!" One of the agents clapped him on the back while giving Brennan an approving once-over with his eyes.

Booth immediately tensed up. "Yeah, Agent Ruthers, _my_ partner is definitely something else." His words were so sharp the man winced.

Ruthers understood the emphasis Booth so obviously put on the words, 'my partner' and backed away quickly. Agent Booth's reputation for being 'Dr. Jeckyll Mr. Hyde' where his partner was concerned preceeded him. The agent quickly excused himself and scurried away.

"Dr. Zach Addy." Came a voice after the third ring.

"Zach, it's Brennan. I've completed my preliminary analysis on the bones and I'll fax you my notes. The bones should be on their way to you later today. You know what to do."

"Of course Dr. Brennan, but aren't you coming back too?"

"Umm," Brennan looked at her bones, despite her confidence in her team, she really would rather be there when they were being examined.

She frowned and looked at Booth.

He stood a few yards away, supervising the bone collection and joking with an officer he seemed to know. She smiled when she heard him laugh and almost said 'yes'.

Booth felt her eyes on him and looked at her, she was on the phone, no doubt with Zach, talking about the bones. He smiled at her when he caught her looking and she immediately turned her back to him.

He wondered briefly what had her looking so thoughtful and amused at the same time.

Brennan's blue eyes searched his of brown, and she knew where she was most needed.

"You know what Zach? I think I'll stay here with Booth to pursue any leads you may come up with. I trust you."

After receiving confirmation from Zach about what to do when the bones arrived, she hung up and met Booth at the SUV.

"So Bones, you ready to see the real Philadelphia?" He asked, sporting one of his dazzling charm smiles.

Brennan nodded and felt herself smile a little. Booth's excitement was often contagious and he was practically jumping up and down.

"I'm ready when you are."

Brennan climbed in the SUV and wondered silently what Booth had in store for the rest of the day.

_**I really hope they fix the site soon, in the meantime, only three days till a new epi here in the US!**_


	7. Mama Monroe

**_I don't know if it's permanent or not, but the doc manager allowed me to upload these so THANK YOU POWERS THAT BE!!!__

* * *

_ **

_1989_

_The bells over the door played a cheerful tune as a decidedly less cheerful young man walked in underneath them._

_Alice, a woman of about forty with teased platinum blonde hair and blue eye shadow, poked her head up from behind the counter of her diner._

_"Hey Seeley!" Her bright smile faded a bit when she looked at his face, "Everything alright?"_

_Seeley flashed dark eyes at her before plopping himself down in front of her on a barstool._

_"I need one strong drink Alice."_

_Alice smiled at her young friend. "Let's see you're ID."_

_"Let's see yours." He snapped._

_Alice's eyebrows shot up and she dipped her chin. "Excuse me?"_

_Seeley winced, knowing he shouldn't have said that. He bit his lip and then looked up at her, the first hint of a smile on his lips._

Here it comes…

_"I'm sorry. But c'mon, no one has to know…just this once, huh Mama Monroe?" With that he plastered on his best smile, the one that made all the ladies swoon._

And there it is_. She reached below the counter and got out a bottle of Ginger ale and filled two glasses with ice._

_"That is a sign of respect right?"_

_The smile fell off Seeley's face and was replaced with confusion and a bit of annoyance. _

_"What?"_

_"That smile. That 'you can't refuse me anything and I can do no wrong' smile of yours. You give that to people because you respect them and what they do, not because you think it will get you anything, right?" Alice raised one eyebrow and gave him a look, along with his drink, that said he'd better choose his words carefully._

_Clearing his throat, Seeley sipped his drink slowly. _

_"Of course it is Alice. I only use that smile on people I like." He did it again and this time she reached over and cupped his chin, giving it a slight shake._

_"You, Seeley Booth, are nothing but trouble." She grinned and reached behind the counter to toss him a wet towel and a quarter._

_"Now help me clean this place up while I make us some Cheesesteaks and you can tell me why you're in such a crappy mood."_

_Seeley tossed the towel onto a nearby table that was covered with Pizza crumbs._

_"Who do we want today Alice?" The boy called over his shoulder as he inserted the quarter and flipped through the album covers on display under the glass in the jukebox._

_"Anything by The King." Alice yelled from the kitchen._

_Seeley shook his head and smiled. "How did I know?"_

_"Oh…never mind you!" She emerged from the back with two sandwiches and a huge smile. "Now get over here and tell me what happened today."_

_Seeley sighed deeply and slumped onto a barstool next to her. He shrugged and bit into his sandwich, relishing in the mingled tastes of melted cheese and onions on his tongue._

_"Aww, c'mon, Seeley, tell Mama Monroe everything." Alice coaxed, nudging him with her shoulder._

_A small smile broke out on his lips and he stared at his plate for a moment before looking up at her._

_"Well it all started this morning when I was late to Algebra…"

* * *

_

"So where are we going Booth?" Brennan watched the streets of Philadelphia fly by her window.

"You hungry Bones?"

She knitted her brows together.

"What?"

"I asked if you're hungry."

"I know, but what has that got to do with…you know what? Never mind. Yes, I'm hungry."

"Good." Booth smiled and slipped on his sunglasses over his face. "Let's eat then."

"Where, pray tell, are we going to eat?" Brennan asked, becoming annoyed at his vagueness.

"You'll see."

Brennan crossed her arms and sat further back in her chair to pout, earning a smile and rolled eyes from Booth that she didn't see.

Before long, Brennan's thoughts wandered to Booth and how drastically their relationship had changed in such a short time period

She'd known for a long time that Booth was close, maybe even too close. She'd just made up her mind a few days ago that it was time to start distancing herself from him, pushing him back out to a safe distance. And then he'd drug her away to Philadelphia, and she wasn't so sure she wanted to do that anymore.

By now she'd chased him off a plane, hugged him in a hotel hallway, danced in her pajamas in front of him and given him a massage in her room. Those were _not_ partner pastimes. But as much as those things should have bothered her, they didn't. She'd stepped irrevocably away from the friendship realm with Booth and…she didn't mind.

This thought in particular was disturbing to her.

_How can I not mind? He's my partner. He's Booth!_

But as soon as she'd thought it, she knew that was the reason.

_He's Booth. In spite of, or maybe because of, all that I am he's stood by me. When he promises he won't leave me, I believe him. When he hugs me…I like it. I can't believe that, but I do. I like his arms around me. He's always there for me. And now…he's the one that needs me, and I meant it when I said I'd be there for him._

Brennan shifted her eyes over to Booth, who was tapping his fingers impatiently while he waited for an abnormally long red light to change.

A realization hit her, and if she hadn't been strapped into her seat, she probably would have fallen out of it.

_I'm in love with my partner …and I'm okay with it!_

Booth pulled the SUV, into a small parking lot that faced an equally small building, completely unaware of his partner's recent epiphany.

"Bones? We're here."

"Huh?" Brennan glanced around. They'd stopped and now Booth was helping her out of the car.

_Just breathe deep Brennan. That's it. Inhale, exhale. Act natural. No! Stop that right…wipe that smile off you're face! It's just his hand on the small of your back like always. Nothing unusual. Oh God, find something to do with your mind, quick!_

"Mama Monroe's Pizza." Brennan read the sign on the roof as they walked across the nearly empty parking lot.

"Yup. Mama Monroe, or Alice as most people call her, makes some of the best Pizza this side of the Bronx, and her Philly Cheesesteaks are even better than that. She's the best kept secret in all of Pennsylvania." Booth put his hand on her lower back to guide her toward the door, and thought he heard her breath hitch.

_Think! Think Brennan. What do you see?_ She turned to take in the secluded surroundings.

The building in front of her was old and small, painted the colors of a faded photograph, but well kept and tidy. Two flower baskets full of Mums brightened the doorway considerably and in the door hung a bright blue and white sign that read 'Open'.

Immediately behind her across the street was a thick plot of trees that created a sound barrier for the nearby highway. She knew to the right was where they had come, the central part of the city and to her left there seemed to be an industrial park with lots of big warehouses and factories.

"Where are we?"

"About four miles south of Highway eight, just outside downtown. I used to walk here after football practice after we moved out of the city. The high school is around the bend."

Bells above the door jingled as they entered and Elvis crooned softly from a jukebox in the corner.

"Hi, how are you…Oh My Gosh! Seeley Booth!!" A short, portly woman emerged from the back room to greet her customers, but her polite smile turned into a wide, goofy grin when she saw who her patrons were.

"Hi Alice." Booth grinned like a little boy and bent low to wrap the woman in a solid hug.

"I outta tan your sorry hide Seeley, how long has it been since you've been by to see me?" She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Brennan was mildly amused when Booth took an intimidated step backward.

"I'm sorry Alice! I really am. I've been working and everything…I haven't even been back to see my own parent's except once a year at Christmas time. And you're never even here then, always off in Vegas doing things...things I'd rather not know about I'm sure." Booth gave her a devilish grin and the woman's cheeks turned a striking red against her pale skin and white hair.

"Oh, alright, I forgive you." She pinched his cheek and turned to walk back toward the bar. Booth followed her, and Brennan followed him, feeling awkward at this strange little reunion.

"Now, how's life been treatin' you Seeley?"

"Fine. Fine."

"Good, now what's this I hear about you having a son?" Alice eyed him with a suspicious smile.

A wide grin spread across Booth's face and he whipped out his wallet.

"Oh, Seeley! What a beautiful boy!" She exclaimed, flipping through dozens of wallet sized pictures of Parker.

"Thanks. His name is Parker, he's four…be five in a few months."

"You're going to have to bring him by to meet me, I bet he's just adorable."

"Oh yeah, and he's got enough energy to power several small home appliances. Smart as a whip though."

Brennan, who'd been wandering the restaurant and was now looking through the albums on the jukebox, turned around frowning.

"A whip is an inanimate object Booth, I don't think it's a compliment to call Parker as smart as something that can't actually think or reason in any way."

Booth's head snapped back in her direction, he'd almost forgotten her. He felt like a tool for doing so and grabbed her by the elbow giving her an apologetic smile, while leading her back toward the bar.

"I'm really sorry girls, I've completely forgotten my manners. Alice, this is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan, Bones, this is Alice Monroe."

"It's nice to meet you." The two woman exchanged pleasantries, and Booth was surprised at how well Brennan was managing to make small talk. He knew Alice had a knack for making people feel comfortable, apparently even socially awkward forensic anthropologists.

"Excuse me Alice, but do you have a bathroom here? Booth hogged ours this morning and in my haste to make myself look presentable I forgot that little detail." Brennan smiled when Booth started to turn red.

"Sure it's around the corner there." She pointed to her right while giving an accusatory glance to Booth. "You were hogging the bathroom Seeley?" She didn't seem phased by the unusual way they addressed each other.

"Yeah, well," he shrugged and slipped into an easy smile. "It was worth it, right?" Booth made a show of patting his hair and straightening his tie, causing both women to laugh.

"You're nothing if not modest Seeley."

"Oh, I don't know, I think you could've used another hour." Brennan teased and reached up to smooth a non-existent unruly hair.

"Hey!" Booth reached out to tickle her, but she skipped away and around the corner.

Alice watched the two flirt shamelessly, and tried not to smile as she got out two glasses and filled them with ginger ale.

Booth looked away from the direction Brennan had gone and his eyes settled on the glasses.

"You know I'm old enough to drink now, right?"

Alice just smiled and pushed his glass to him.

"Well well well. She's very pretty. How long have you two been going together?" She asked, mischief dancing in her youthful eyes as she leaned her elbows on the counter and took a long sip of her drink.

"Me and Bones? Naw, we're just partners Alice." Booth shook his head and made himself comfortable on his usual seat.

"Oh, really? How many of your partners do you tickle?" She raised her eyebrows.

"Um…well, none of them but…I mean I'm kind of surprised she didn't break my arm just now."

"Oh?" Alice stared at him and he had no choice but to continue.

"Bones is…Bones, Alice. She's…different than other partners I've had."

"How is that?"

"Well, for one thing she's not an FBI agent. She's a Forensic Anthropologist, a scientist. She's got like a dozen doctorates, she's a master martial artist, has a hunting license in four states. She has a gun and," He leaned in toward her to whisper. "it's bigger than mine."

Alice nodded. "What does all that mean Seeley?" Her voice still soft and coy.

"It means…it means…" Booth glanced toward the bathrooms and then back at Alice, who was smiling that knowing smile he recognized all too well. There was no way he could lie to her. She was worse than Angela when it came to this sort of thing.

"And what exactly does that mean?" She repeated.

Booth just stared at the counter, trying not to smile.

"C'mon Seeley. Tell Mama Monroe."

Booth sighed. "It means she's my partner. She has my back, I've got hers. I'd do anything, _anything_ to protect her, and she understands me like no one else. It means that…outside of Parker," Booth tapped his wallet, still sprawled open to Parker's picture "there is no one more important in my life than Bones."

Brennan emerged from the bathroom still smiling.

"So, are we going to have some of these famous sandwiches, or am I supposed to wait until I'm gnawing my own arm off?" Brennan slapped his right arm when he raised an eyebrow at her stomach that growled loudly at mention of being fed.

"Ouch!"

"Seeley! You didn't feed this poor girl? What's the matter with you?" Alice reached over and slapped him on his other arm.

"Hey!"

Brennan sat on a stool next to Booth and took a few sips from his drink and smiled smugly.

Booth snatched it back form her. "You don't get me in trouble and then drink my pop!"

Before this argument could even start two delicious looking Philly Cheesesteaks were set in front of them and they immediately dove into the food, groaning with pleasure every few seconds as their stomachs thanked them for the sustenance.

**_Oh yeah! Doc Loader Gods I offer you my fic as sacraficial thanks..._**

**_Now review you wonderful little readers:)_**


	8. Tourists

**I'm pretty sure the alerts are down...grumble grumble curse so I hope you all will find this as it slowly falls down the updated list...**

_

* * *

1983_

_Seeley was bummed. He was supposed to be at the arcade right about now with his buddies, but he just got home from the hospital and was under house arrest. He glared at the bright blue cast on his left arm for ruining his fun._

_"Seeley!" His mother called from the living room, "The guys are here to see you!"_

_He sat up on his bed with a grin as three young men came barreling through his door._

_"Hey man!" "What the heck were you thinking? Mick Johnson is twice your size!" "Can I sign your cast?"_

_"I'm not scared of Mick, I'm not scared of anybody." Seeley said bravely._

_The other boys didn't question it as they fanned out in his room. Seeley had proved time and time again in their short, eleven years of life that there was nothing he couldn't handle._

_Mick Johnson didn't know what hit him when he started messing with Charlie that day on the playground, Seeley almost went through he roof when his friends told him about it. Charlie might have been tall, but he was useless in a fight, and everyone knew it. He had a different recess than the other boys, and Mick took advantage of his isolation._

_Seeley couldn't let it stand. That day after school it was over before it began for Mick, who ended up with a shiner and a bloody lip and would have been flat on his face if Seeley hadn't tripped over that curb and broken his arm falling._

_Seeley forced himself not to wince when one of Troy's lanky dark arms accidentally hit his cast, causing the bones inside to shift painfully._

_"Check out what I wrote." Charlie pointed to where he'd signed Seeley's cast._

_**Christie is MINE!! –Charlie**_

_"Dream on man." Seeley shook his head, his brown curls falling back into his eyes. All the boys turned to look at the pin-up of a soaking wet, bikini clad, Christie Brinkley plastered the far wall, trying not to blush too hard._

_The boys moved about Seeley's room playing games and listening to music while Smoky and the Bandit played over and over in the background on his TV._

_A few hours passed and the boys gorged themselves on anything Caroline Booth would bring to them, including cookies, sandwiches, juice, water and fresh fruit. All of which the boys inhaled as if it were air._

_After a while Charlie fell asleep in a beanbag chair left over from Seeley's father's days in college while Troy busied himself listening to his music on a walkman._

_"I'm gonna drive like that someday." Seeley said, awkwardly licking stuffing from his Oreo, a task made difficult by his now slightly hindered left hand._

_"No way man. Nobody drives like Smokey." Jacob just shook his head and both boys were quiet as they watched, for the third time in a row, as the Bandit outsmarted that fat Sheriff and took his door clean off his car._

_The boys howled every time they saw it as if it were the first._

_"So, Seeley, what are we gonna do tomorrow?" Jacob asked when it was time to go._

_Seeley glanced at his arm and then at his friends who stared expectantly at him from the doorway. A mischievous smile caught on his lips, and the others smiled back, knowing what the expression meant._

_"Don't worry. I'll think of something. I always do."

* * *

_

Booth honked his horn at Alice who stood in the door of her restaurant, waving as the large SUV pulled out of the parking lot.

"I really like her." Brennan looked in her rearview mirror and stuck her hand out the window when she saw Alice was still watching.

Booth glanced at her and was glad to find her smiling softly.

"Yeah. Alice is great. She was my saving grace when we moved out of the city. I hated it, but Alice…she makes everything better." Booth nodded to himself as he turned the SUV toward downtown.

Brennan studied him carefully; something in his voice caught her attention.

"Why did you move out of the city?"

Booth glanced at her and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

Brennan noticed and apologized.

"I shouldn't pry. I'm sorry."

"No, no it's okay." He protested, but didn't continue.

"Then…why?" She prompted when he didn't finish whatever he hadn't said.

"I was, um, we were…in a car accident. A pretty bad one. It freaked my parents out because the driver had been drinking. We...didn't know." Booth cleared his throat several times and kept searching for non-existent traffic to avoid Brennan's gaze.

"What happened?" she asked quietly, still studying his odd change in mood.

Booth knew she was watching him. He didn't like it.

"Listen Bones, can we just talk about something else, please?"

Brennan brought her lips into her mouth to keep them from letting out words.

_I've gone too far. I shouldn't have pushed him._ She shook her head at herself and turned to look out the window at some river that ran alongside the highway.

Booth glanced over, sensing her tense up and immediately cursed himself for causing her to feel uncomfortable.

_She wasn't doing anything wrong. It's not her fault you're still so touchy on the subject after all these years Seeley._ He scolded himself. _Make it up to her._

He sighed, knowing that was exactly what he should do, and also knowing what the answer to his next question would be.

"Alright, where do you want to go Bones?"

"What? I thought you were picking."

"I was. But I changed my mind. Now pick someplace to go before I change it back."

"Fine," She crossed her arms at his annoyed tone and stuck out her chin. She didn't even need to think about it. "Independence Hall."

Booth groaned. "You really insist on being a tourist don't you?"

"Well, Booth, in case you haven't noticed, I _am_ a tourist…and so are you."

"What? No. I am not a tourist. I grew up here." Booth protested firmly.

"Actually Booth, a tourist is, by definition, one who travels for a period of 24 hours or more in a place other than that in which he or she usually resides, whose purpose could be classified as leisure, business, family, mission or meeting. You don't live here anymore. That makes you a tourist." Brennan stated matter-of-factly.

_Gawd! I sound like a Websters dictionary._

"I am _not_ a tourist. I will not be a tourist in my own hometown." Booth grumbled, his eyebrows furrowed together in indignation.

An expression Brennan found almost too cute to resist from her spot in the SUV, mere inches from him.

_Pull yourself together Temperance. Give him time._ That was proving to be one of the hardest things to do, giving him time. She'd decided what she wanted, and now…she **wanted** it. Why did he have to take so long to figure it out?

_Mulling is such a waste of time._

While Brennan felt mulling was a waste of time, Booth found visiting Independence hall, an immense waste of time. Independence hall where his knowledge junkie partner insisted on taking a tour and stopping to read every plaque and description on each and every exhibit. Not that he didn't love his country…he just had other things he'd rather have been doing.

_Like pulling that gorgeous bottom lip of hers out from between her teeth and into mine._ Whoa_, man! Where did that come from?_

"Booth?" Brennan touched his arm and was surprised when he jumped.

"Sorry Bones, not paying attention. You ready to go?"

She nodded and followed him out of the museum, a large canvas tote in her hand that contained three thick books on the Revolutionary War that she'd bought. The books weighed quite a few pounds, but she insisted on carrying it out to the car herself.

But by the time they'd gone twenty feet she'd already begun the feel the pressure in her fingers and was shifting the bag from one hand to the other repeatedly.

Booth's ears were on alert and at her first grunt of discomfort he wordlessly slipped his large hand around hers and took the bag from her.

Brennan blushed, upset that he'd just assumed she wanted his help, embarrassed because she did indeed want it.

"So where to now?" She asked once they were strapped back into the SUV.

"Well, since you insist on being a tourist, I'm taking you to do what all the tourists do."

"And what is that?"

Booth just smiled. "You ever see Rocky, Bones?"

-----------------------------------------

"No Booth. Absolutely not."

"Aww, c'mon Bones! Please?"

"NO! I will not run up these stairs like an idiot. I don't even know what the significance of it is!" Brennan crossed her arms over her chest to punctuate her statement. She was not going up there. No way, no how.

"Bones, everyone does it. Look, right over there, those two guys."

Brennan followed where his finger was pointing and watched two young men of about twenty, jog up the Art Museum steps, one following the other with a video camera. Once at the top, the one being recorded threw his fists in the air and turned in a slow jogging circle, the other laughing hysterically.

"What is wrong with them?"

"Nothing, except they're tourists. Which, according to you, we are too, which means you have to do it."

"Why do I have to do it?"

"Because…" Booth took a deep breath and ran a tired hand over his face. "You know what Bones?"

"What?"

"You're just scared."

Brennan's mouth dropped. _The very idea!_

Booth continued, ignoring her reaction.

"You're scared you'll lose to me and look foolish in front of all these people."

Brennan glanced around…there were a lot of people. But she still wasn't doing it.

"No Booth. Psychology will not work on me. It's a soft science, I should know…I'm a real scientist."

"That you are Bones, but it's not psychology," per say, "it's the truth."

Brennan narrowed her eyes at his grin. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, because…"

"Go!" Brennan took off up the stairs, moving surprisingly fast considering she was in heels.

"Hey!" Booth instantly reacted and ran after her. He caught up quickly and ran beside her for a few moments. When he saw they were almost to the top of the stairs, an idea struck him and he pulled back a little and began fishing something out of his pocket.

"I won!" Brennan reached the top and did what she'd seen the other tourists do. She threw her hands in the air and jogged in a slow circle with a wide grin on her face, unwittingly doing a perfect Rocky impression.

Booth was laughing behind her and she turned around. He had his phone in his left hand, pointing straight at her.

"This picture is going straight to Angela. She'll love it!" He gasped for air, between running up dozens of stairs and laughing hysterically, he was nearly suffocating. Brennan came to stand next to him and look at the picture.

"Why?" She panted, hands on her hips as she tried to catch her breath.

"No reason Bones." Booth flipped shut his phone and put his hand on the small of her back to guide her back down the stairs.

"Wait! Aren't we going in the Museum?" Brennan threw a confused glance at the building behind her and then at Booth.

"Nope."

"We came all this way just to run up the steps?!" She couldn't believe it.

"Yup."

"But why?"

"Rocky."

"I don't know what that means."

**Awww. Sweet, innocent Brennan. Actually, I've never seen Rocky either so I feel her pain. Anyone out there wanna send me a teensy weensy review? Or a big long one...that's good too. :)**


	9. A walk in the park

**Alerts: still down. Me: VERY unhappy about it.**

**

* * *

**_1979_

_"Hey, sweetheart, how are you feeling?" Caroline spoke softly as she sat on the edge of her son's bed in the darkened bedroom. Her seven-year-old boy Seeley had woken with a fever and spent most of the morning sleeping._

_"Hi mom." Seeley sat up in bed, kicking his comforter off his warm body._

_"You hungry?" She held up a bowl of steaming hot chicken noodle soup._

_Seeley looked at the food warily and scowled._

_"My tummy hurts."_

_Caroline frowned and put the soup back down._

_"I'm sorry baby." She brushed some of his wet curls off his forehead. "Oh, sweetheart, you're burning up." She felt him shiver and pulled his thick racecar comforter back over him, tucking it up under his chin._

_Seeley snuggled further under the covers and closed his eyes as Caroline leaned over and kissed his cheek._

_"I'll be back in a few minutes with something for you to drink, okay? We need to keep those fluids in you." She told him._

_Seeley just nodded, too tired to speak._

_His mother stroked his hair a few more times before standing and heading for the door._

_"You get some more rest, okay baby? If you're feeling a little better later you can come downstairs and watch TV. That sound good?"_

_"Yeah."_

_Seeley heard the doorknob turn and sat up suddenly._

_"Mom?"_

_"What is it Seeley?"_

_"Will you please stay?"_

_Caroline noted the fatigue and childlike worry in her son's face and in an instant she was climbing onto the bed next to him, one of his favorite books in hand._

_Seeley nestled up against his mother's side and smiled as she started reading._

_"I love you mom."_

_Caroline stopped reading and smiled down at the top of his head._

_Leaning over, she kissed it, whispering, "I love you too Seeley."_

"Fairmount Park?"

Booth met Brennan at the front of the car with a confused expression.

"You know where we are?"

"Yeah, the biggest urban park in the country. I was here four years ago identi…" She glanced at Booth and saw him slow to a stop with a grim expression. "You know what…never mind. It would probably ruin the mood anyway." A smile slid across her face and she motioned toward the lush green park with her hand. "Shall we?"

"There is a mood to ruin?" Booth studied her with an amused smile.

Brennan just shrugged and led the way toward the path.

She heard Booth's heavy footsteps approaching from behind and fought down a surge of adrenalin rushing through her veins, alerting her to his presence beside her.

They walked in silence for a while along the Shuylkill River, sunlight dancing between the trees.

Brennan was immediately taken in by the calmness of it, even with all the bikers and people walking on the trail, the families having picnics and the duck boats in the water. Spring was in the air, so to speak, the smell of flowers and blooming trees surrounding them.

_What an interesting example of an urban ecosystem. I'll bet there's all kinds of plant and animal life unusual to this area because of the close proximity to the city. I wonder if Hodgins has ever been here?_

A small smile was curling on her lips when she thought of how excited the curly haired entomologist would be to study the biodiversity of this particular area, when Booth finally started talking.

"We'd all been drinking." His grim tone cut through the lighthearted air like a knife through butter and Brennan almost flinched.

She glanced at him, his face a mix of pain and nostalgia and something else she didn't recognize, but was certain she didn't like. She kicked herself for being so insensitive.

_What am I doing? Booth is obviously in need of a friend and I'm here analyzing the local ecosystem! Priorities Brennan!_

"Booth, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I understand."

"No Bones, I want to tell you." Booth shook his head, "I've never really told anybody but…I don't know…we're partners, right?"

He turned toward her, his deep brown eyes asking for something his lips couldn't say.

"Right. You can tell me anything."

He nodded.

Now there are very few things in the world Brennan considered to need her full attention at any given moment. Booth happened to be one of them and that moment, that was exactly what she gave him.

"Why don't we sit down?" She spotted a nearby picnic table that was protected from the warmth of the already setting sun. But when she started to move toward it, he put a halting hand on her forearm.

"I'd rather walk if that's okay." He smiled half-heartedly, "I'd end up pacing anyway and I'd rather be getting somewhere with all that physical activity."

Brennan simply nodded and fell into step beside him, this time walking along the short fence that ran parallel to the river.

"Um…where was I?" He knew where he'd stopped, he was just stalling. They both knew it.

"You were all drinking." Brennan winced, the bluntness of her statement obvious even to her own ears.

"Oh, right." Booth cleared his throat and jammed his hands in his pockets. "We'd gone to this party at a friend's house. 'We' being myself and three friends of mine, Troy, Charlie and Jacob. We'd been friends since the first grade. Good friends." Booth trailed off and studied the grass moving slowly beneath is feet.

Brennan watched his behavior closely, debating whether or not to prompt him to continue. But at the look on his face, she knew it was better to leave him. He needed time. She could give him that.

"We were pretty close." Booth snorted, "Close is an understatement, we practically shared a brain. We all lived in the same neighborhood, rode the same bus to school and were in the same class. We did everything together, and that included getting into trouble."

Booth smiled to himself as he remembered some of the sticky situations he and his friends had gotten themselves into as kids.

"But nothing ever really bad happened. No matter what rules we broke, nobody ever really got hurt. Broken bones, bruises here and there, but nothing serious. Until that night."

Booth took several deep breaths to try and calm his nerves that were balancing precariously on the edge.

Suddenly, he felt warmth between his fingers and looked down. Brennan had reached over and taken his hand. He looked back up at her, she met him with an intense blue gaze and a reassuring smile.

"Anyway, we were fifteen and we went to this party at a guy's house. His parents were out of town and of course there was beer, liquor, the whole nine yards."

Brennan bit her lip to prevent herself from asking what that meant.

"It was Jacob's turn to be the designated driver, but…he just…" Booth swallowed hard and squeezed Brennan's hand.

_Help me through this,_ his mind pleaded with her.

Brennan's mouth responded as if he'd said it out loud.

"I don't have anywhere to be Booth, you don't have to rush." She said soothingly.

Booth nodded and took another deep breath.

"Jacob, he just…never could deal with being left out. By the time we left, I don't know how late…late though. By then Troy and Charlie and I were wasted out of our skulls, couldn't tell up from down to save our lives. But Jacob, he wasn't supposed to be drinking, he had been though. Not as much as the rest of us, but enough. Like a bunch of idiots we all got into the car with him…hadn't made it ten miles before Jacob lost control and sent us all careening into a Redwood tree in someone's front yard."

Booth shook his head. "I can't believe I was so stupid."

"Booth, I've told you before, adolescents find ways to rebel against societal norms with drinking and drugs. It's not uncommon."

"Yeah, too common." His eyes flashed with anger. "Troy and I got away with relatively minimal injuries, but Jacob... Jacob died Bones, right there in the car, with me in the seat next to him while we waited for an ambulance." Booth got quiet as his sentence wore on until he was practically whispering.

"Charlie was in the hospital for three weeks. He was in such bad shape he didn't even get to go to the funeral. My parents moved us out of the city later that year." Booth had stopped walking and was staring into the water as it rushed past the shore.

The sun was disappearing behind the Philadelphia skyline, turning the sky brilliant shades of red and orange that had to be seen to believe.

Booth let go of Brennan's hand and leaned against the fence, dropping his head as if the memories swirling in it made it too heavy for his neck to support.

Brennan took a deep breath and a step forward, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"You were close to Jacob?"

Booth blinked back tears before turning to her.

"He was my best friend Bones. We were all close, but Jacob and I…we were best friends." He smiled slightly at her.

She smiled back. "Fifteen wasn't a great age for me either."

Booth found himself laughing slightly, thankful that she was trying to lighten the mood. He cleared his throat and stood up straighter.

"This place is great though, isn't it?" He let his eyes scan the peaceful scene before him, relaxing his tense muscles.

A family on the other side of the river was packing up a picnic from earlier that day. One small child slumped into a stroller as their mother pushed it down the walkway, the other little girl sleeping in her father's arms as he led the way to the car.

Booth smiled at the sight of the young family, wondering if one day he would get a chance to have that as well.

"It's beautiful." Brennan squinted at the park, trying to imprint the essence of the day in her mind.

_A day spent with Booth._

Brennan smiled at the thought, wondering how many more days she would get like this.

She turned toward Booth and was surprised to find him gazing down at her. A look of tender affection in his eyes captured her, and all thoughts fled her mind.

Her eyes roamed over his face. His rugged manly features accentuated by shadows cast off from the setting sun. His intense brown eyes, the most expressive, perceptive brown eyes she'd ever known, watched her every move unblinkingly. And then those lips, parted slightly the way they often did when he had something to say but wasn't quite sure how to express it, they beckoned her.

"God I want to kiss you right now." Brennan's own whisper snapped her out of her reverie and she turned away quickly, the warmth in her cheeks spreading to the rest of her face.

_I can't believe I just said that! What was I thinking? What happened to giving him time? Not everyone decides things as quickly as I do, what if he doesn't feel the same way? He's a shameless flirt, maybe he never meant anything by it. Angela is always telling me to let the man make the first move. I shouldn't have done that…Oh no…_

She felt Booth's finger on her chin and turned back toward him. Before she could even open her mouth to say something Booth's was pressed against hers and anything she might have been thinking of saying was quickly forgotten.

Turning the rest of her body toward him and she felt him pull her closer with one hand on her waist, the other tracing lightly along her jaw line.

Instinct took over and she wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes, the sensations his body was sending through hers were boggling her analytical mind. She'd never felt anything like this before…but she liked it.

Booth couldn't think straight enough to decide what he was feeling…but he knew he definitely liked it.

"Mommy! What's that man doing to that lady?" A small voice rang out from a few yards away.

Brennan and Booth pulled apart, they'd forgotten, as their kiss got more heated, that they were actually in a public place.

Booth saw the small child and his irritated mother who was giving them a disapproving glare.

"Nothing Billy. Lets go."

He looked at Brennan and they burst out laughing.

"We should um…go back to my hotel and…you know…finish what we started." Brennan fidgeted absently with the hairs on the back of Booth's neck, driving him crazy as his hands remained firmly placed on her hips. "Zach and Hodgins won't have the results of their findings for a few more hours so…we'll have plenty of time to…do whatever we want."

Booth's smile fell off his face as the reality of what he was doing suddenly hit him. He stepped back.

"Bones…we can't." He watched disappointment pass over her face and hated himself for it. "The line Bones…we're partners. If we do this…there won't be any going back. Things will never be the same." He shook his head. "I won't be able to let you go if…"

She stepped forward and shut him up with a hard kiss against those admirable lips and then pulled away again, intentionally staying within his personal space.

"Booth, first off, you've drawn lots of lines…I don't put much stock in lines."

Booth smiled, she never really did what she was told did she?

"And secondly, I've thought about this. We work well together as partners, logic dictates that we would work well together personally too. I wouldn't risk our friendship if I thought for a moment this would end badly. But I trust you Booth, you've never given me a reason not to. This will work."

Booth blinked. "I'm glad you trust me." He said in all seriousness.

Brennan smiled. "And third, you don't have to worry about letting me go…I'm not going anywhere without you."

A genuine smile broke out on his face.

_Maybe logic isn't so bad._

He reached up to grab the sides of her face, bringing his lips down to hers again, this time with a renewed zeal.

"Booth…" Brennan protested when they came up for air.

"Hotel. Right." He grasped her hand and made his way as hastily as possible to the SUV, a fiercely determined look on his face. A look that only would have been quickly transformed to confused if he'd seen the wide, almost girlish grin on the face of the woman jogging to keep up with him.

_That's my boy._

**Oh, yay for fluff!! lol. Hope everyone liked it and keep asking the internet gods for our alerts back! **


	10. The Mood

**I'm really glad everyone liked the opposite roles I decided to take with BB, I really think for once Brennan should be the assertive one, she is afterall, an assertive girl. lol. NEED ALERTS BACK!**

_1982_

_"C'mon Jared!" Seeley bolted through the park on a warm October day. Winter would be announcing its arrival soon so the Booths decided to go out for one more picnic before the snow._

_Jared rolled his eyes, something he did all-to-often in his parent's opinion, and broke into a half-hearted jog to keep up with his brother._

_"I'm com'n Seeley! Keep your shirt on!"_

_Seeley stopped at the edge of the sandbox and turned around._

_"Jared will you push me?" He clasped his hands together and stuck out his bottom lip._

_Jared rolled his eyes again._

_"You know that look doesn't work on me. Your ten years old Seeley, push yourself." He went over to the monkey bars to do a couple chin-ups._

_Seeley's face fell and he shrugged._

_"Fine."_

_He turned and stalked the rest of the way to the swings. Just before he reached them however, another boy Seeley didn't recognize jumped in front of him and sat down happily on the swing._

_"Hey! I was about to use that!"_

_The other boy, who was a little bit bigger than Seeley, just crossed his arms and smirked._

_"So? I want it."_

_Seeley's face turned hard and he took a step closer._

_"This is the swing I was going to use. Move." He demanded in a low, controlled tone._

_The other boys' smirk turned into a scowl and he stood up, toe-to-toe with Seeley he was three inches taller._

_"Make me."_

_Seeley was going to do just that. But when he raised his arm to hit the other boy, he suddenly moved and went to find the next open swing a few sections down._

_Jared heard Seeley's voice somewhere behind him and dropped off the handlebars. There, on the swings a boy had obviously taken the seat his brother was headed for._

_This did not sit well with Jared; no one was allowed to mess with his brother except him._

_He quickly went over to the two boys and crossed his arms over his broad chest as he took a spot directly behind Seeley._

_The other boy sensed the motion and looked up to find a muscular boy of about fourteen glaring at him. Jared's lips were set in a firm line and he jerked his head to the side, indicating the boy should leave before a real smack down started._

_Just as Seeley raised his fist, the other boy took Jared's advice and walked away, grumbling to himself._

_Seeley turned around, beaming._

_"Didja see that Jared? That boy was scared I was gonna beat 'em up." Seeley's face shone with pride as he took his rightful place on the swing._

_Jared couldn't help himself; he grinned down at his brother and ruffled his hair._

_"Yup. He was."_

_"Yo! Jared!"_

_Both Jared and Seeley looked toward the gate where two boys who looked to be Jared's age were on small bikes, a girl sitting across one of the boys' handlebars._

_Jared waved and started walking toward them._

_"Hey Seeley," Jared threw over his shoulder, "Tell Mom and Dad I went to hang with Tommy, Rena and Hadley okay?"_

_Then he broke out into a run and met his friends by the gate._

_Seeley shook his head._

Mom and Dad are **not** going to like this.

_Seeley wasn't too keen on playing by himself, but as his swing got higher and higher and he could see more and more of the park, he saw someone he recognized._

_A grin broke out on his lips and he jumped off the swing._

_"Jacob! Jacob c'mere! I've got an idea!"_

_Jacob's eyes lit up and he raced to meet his friend somewhere between the picnic tables and the jungle gym.

* * *

_

"Bones, I really can't think when you do that." Booth shifted in the driver's seat, trying to move away, rather reluctantly, from her touch.

"Do what?" She asked innocently, mischief in her smile.

"Bones. I'm serious! You're going to make me crash." Booth jerked involuntarily and they swerved in and out of another lane.

Brennan withdrew her hand from his inner thigh and sat back and sighed.

"I'm sorry...but you drive like an old lady!"

"I do not!"

"Why don't you put on the siren?" She sat forward and started flipping buttons and Booth slapped her hand away.

"I'm not putting on the siren."

Brennan sat back again, this time pouting.

_That is just too cute._

They pulled up to a stop light and he reaced over, cupping her chin.

"I promise it will be worth the wait, okay? Just be patient babe."

Brennan looked away before his immenent charm smile washed away her thoughts.

"Babe?" She wrinkled her nose. "I think I like Bones better."

Booth smiled slowly.

"Okay...Babe."

------------

The argument about whether or not to use a siren turned into an argument about whether or not to listen to music, which turned into an argument about whether or not Brennan could open her own doors, which turned into an argument about whether or not Booth really **was** an alpha-male.

And while in the elevator, all that energy built up from all that arguing turned into a race for who could get undressed quicker.

The elevator doors dinged open and Booth started down the hall, Brennan's legs having found their way around his waist somewhere between the third and fourth floors.

She hastily untucked his shirt while he attempted to unbutton her blouse and by the time they managed to get Brennan's hotel door open Booth could have arrested them both for public indecency. He kicked his shirt inside and she shut the door and they were immediatly at eachother again.

Brennan succeeded in removing Booth's heavy belt at the same moment he found the clasp to her bra (her shirt had gotten lost somewhere near the coat rack) and he'd never been happier to oblige one of Brennan's requests than when she asked him to 'throw the damn thing across the room'.

Somewhere in the middle of all this undressing, which proved to be a difficult task when neither really wanted to let go of the other's lips, a familiar voice rang out in the room.

"Dr. Brennan?"

On the laptop on the coffee table, a picture of one Dr. Zach Addy popped up on the screen.

"Dr. Brennan are you there?"

Booth stood frozen behind the laptop, Brennan's back pressed into the wall as he kissed her neck.

After a few seconds she regained control of her brain and tried to wiggle out of Booth's grip.

When his arms prevented her from doing so and she looked at him.

Even in the dark she could see the passion and desire in his brown eyes, and she knew they were mirrored in her own…but she had to see what Zach wanted.

"Don't." Booth whispered, reading her mind and leaning in to kiss her again.

Brennan pulled away from him and untangled her limbs from his.

"It's probably about the case. It might be important." She whispered back. She looked around for her shirt. When she couldn't find it, she reached for the next best thing and slipped Booth's dress shirt over her head.

Booth groaned. "It's the diner all over again." He said quietly, crossing his arms over his bare chest and leaning against the wall.

"I'm here Zach, just hold on." Brennan called out. She turned around to find Booth frowning at her and she walked over to him.

Leaning in close to his ear, she whispered, "Go to the bedroom and make yourself comfortable. I'll be in shortly. I promise."

Booth sighed and caught her hips with his hands, dipping his head to give her a mind blowing kiss that almost melted her knees. He pulled back, way too soon in Brennan's opinion, and shut the door behind himself in her room.

Brennan sighed as she watched him go.

"Dr. Brennan?" Zach repeated.

_Oh…right._ Brennan reluctantly plopped herself down on the couch and attempted to smooth some of her tousled hair.

"Right here Zach."

"Oh, there you are Dr. Brennan. I've found something unusual in the wound between the C4 and C5 vertebra, which I confirmed was the cause of death, by the way."

Zach's image was replaced by a magnified image of a bone and a small squareish piece of something lodged in the puncture.

"Magnification?" Brennan squinted at the screen.

"5000x."

Brennan pursed her lips.

"I think its skin Zach."

Zach's face reappeared.

"From the attacker?"

"I don't know, but it's possible. Extract it from the bone and give it to Hodgins, see if he can get any DNA. If it is skin from the assailant, the bone it was lodged in could have protected it from the meth chemicals and the fire and we could get a suspect."

Zach nodded and looked over at someone off screen.

"Hey Sweetie!" Angela stuck her head into view.

"Hi Angela, are you done with the facial reconstruction yet?"

"No, Zach still needs to put flesh markers on…" She stopped and squinted at her friend. "Sweetie, did we interrupt something?"

"Huh? What? No…why?" Brennan stammered, biting her lip and glancing guilty toward the door Booth had disappeared through.

"Because Sweetie, you're wearing a men's shirt and …oh my God, you have Sex Hair!"

"What? I do not!" Brennan made another attempt at smoothing her hair as Angela pushed Zach out of the way and took his seat.

"Sweetie is it Booth?" Angela was grinning so hard it made Brennan's cheeks hurt.

"Angela!" She tried to protest, but couldn't make a very convincing argument with that blush washing over her face like that.

Angela squealed.

"Say no more Bren…we weren't even here." She winked and the screen went black.

Brennan took a deep breath.

_Why does she always have to be like some sort of freaky psychic with this sort of thing? Especially when such a thing doesn't even exist…why am I even thinking about this right now when there is a half naked man in the bedroom waiting to have sex with me?_

She jumped up from the couch and went to the bedroom.

Booth was sitting on the edge of the bed facing the window. His muscular frame outlined by silver moonlight in blue darkness and Brennan took a moment at the doorway to admire him.

Then she quietly crept over to the bed and crawled across it.

Booth closed his eyes when he felt her behind him. Her hot breath on the back of his neck, feather light touches on his chest that sent fire through his veins.

Her hand descended lower toward the button of his pants and he caught her wrist.

"There's two things that will ruin a mood pretty quickly Bones." He said grimly, "One is an unexpected video call from the Baby Squint, the other…is a phone call from your mom."

Brennan immediately detached her lips from his shoulder and sat beside him.

"Your mom called?" Concern took place of the sultry tone her voice had previously possessed.

Booth nodded toward his phone that sat abandoned on the floor by the wall.

"She left me a message. Said she wanted me to call. Wants to talk." He spoke quietly as he ran one hand back and forth over his hair.

Brennan reached for his free hand and laced her fingers with his.

"Are you going to?"

A bitter smile Brennan didn't like much slid onto his lips.

"What's there to talk about?" He shook his head slightly and let his other hand fall to his lap. "There's nothing to talk about."

Brennan sighed and followed his gaze out the window where a few stars managed to outshine the Philadelphia nightlife.

"Why don't we get some sleep Booth? We can think about all this tomorrow." Brennan slid back along the sheet and tugged on his hand for him to follow.

He did. Snuggling under the covers beside her, not even caring that he still wore dress pants.

"I'm sorry Bones." He whispered in her ear as she pushed her body back tight up against his.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I understand."

Booth smiled and kissed her temple, knowing she did.

**We're gonna find out what's up with Booth's dad in like the next one or two chaps, then after that I am thinking about taking my first stab at writing a Rated M chapter. Anyone object? **


	11. Can't be right

**Someone else has just started a fic called Philadelphia so depending on how often they update I may end up renaming this fic for purposes of avoiding confusion. I was excited to read you reviews (albeit without alerts) and you guys all seem gung ho for a M chap, so look for that in chap 15 (I know that's a way off but there's a lot that has to happen before then and I'm a little nervous about writing my first M, lol).**

**

* * *

**_1998_

_Seeley sat in the waiting room with his mother and brother. His mother's head was bent in prayer, his brother Jared paced restlessly._

_Seeley just stared. He'd only been out of the army for six months, the wounds, both internal and external, were still healing. And now this._

_All he wanted to do was go to bed and sleep. Forever._

_But somehow he knew, whenever his head did eventually hit a pillow…sleep wouldn't come easily._

_A doctor breezed through the doorway and the Booths rose to their feet in unison, Seeley willingly offering his good shoulder to his mother for support._

_"The test results came back." The doctor glanced at his clipboard and for once, Seeley was thankful he didn't have a gun._

I mean really, how much is it to ask that you remember one little word? Positive or negative. Do you really need a clipboard to remember that?

_"How is he Doctor?" Caroline asked quietly, her fingernails digging into her sons' flesh, though he hardly noticed._

_"Mrs. Booth, they're negative. It looks like your husband's cancer is in remission."_

_Caroline burst into tears and Jared came to hug her, his own tears flowing freely._

_Seeley sank into a nearby chair, he could no longer feel his legs. _

He's okay…Dad's gonna be okay.

_He felt his cheeks start to hurt and realized he was smiling. His mother looked over at him and she smiled too._

_"May we see him Doctor?" Jared asked, missing the exchange between his brother and mother._

_"Certainly Mrs. Booth, right this way." The doctor turned and Jared and Caroline followed him out of the waiting room. Seeley remained seated._

_"Seeley? Aren't you coming?" Caroline threw her brown-eyed gaze back at her son and beckoned him._

_He shook his head. "I have to take care of something first. You go on ahead…I'll be in a few minutes."_

_Caroline studied him for a moment and then nodded, disappearing through the doors._

_After a moment, Seeley leaned forward and pressed his hands together, his elbows on his knees, he closed his eyes._

Oh dear God…thank you. Thank you …

* * *

The sound of a phone chirping at 7am snatched both Booth and Brennan from their peaceful slumber. Brennan instinctively threw her head backward, a presence beside her startling her more than the phone's incessant ringing. 

Booth hissed. "Ouch Bones! For crying out loud, do you always do that when you wake up?" Booth sat up and away from her, cradling his nose protectively. "If you do I'm getting a helmet!"

Brennan rolled her eyes.

"Let me see." She pried his hand away from his face and peered at him.

"Oh, you big baby your fine."

Booth glared at her and she grinned back.

"What?" She asked innocently, before rolling off the bed to snatch his phone off the floor.

Booth shut himself inside the bathroom muttering something about 'more like big head'.

Brennan tried to suppress a smile and she flipped open his phone.

"Special Agent Booth's phone."

"Er…who is this?"

Just then a muffled groan came through the door. "You made me bleed!"

Brennan ignored him.

"I'm his partner, Dr. Temperance Brennan. Booth is tending to a wound right now." Brennan smirked at Booth as he emerged from the bathroom, his right nostril plugged with a wad of toilet paper.

He snatched his phone from her.

"This is Agent Booth."

Brennan clapped a hand over her mouth to suppress her giggles at the nasally tone of his voice and went out to the main room to begin her quest for her clothes.

"Agent Booth, this is Detective Waters. We arrested a man today for drug possession with intent to sell. His name's JR, he's known to operate out of the South Side, we thought you might want to talk to him, see if he knows anything about your John Doe and the Meth lab."

"Yeah, that sounds good Detective, my partner and I will be there in half an hour." He snapped shut his phone.

"Bones!"

Brennan came back in the room, carrying her clothes in her right hand, his in her left.

"Yes?"

"Local PD picked up a drug dealer who might have some information for us. Lets get cleaned up and get out of here."

"Okay. Room Service left a note under the door. The airport found your luggage, they've got it downstairs at the Concierges' office." Brennan picked up a pair of brown slacks and a black dress top and moved into the bathroom as Booth grabbed her around the waist.

"Good morning by the way." He kissed her hard enough to make her forget herself and then pulled back and winked. A charming gesture even with the stupid paper sticking out of his nose making him look more like a kid with each progression of that smile.

Brennan just smiled at him and watched him disappear out the door.

She shook her head and looked at herself in the mirror.

"I really should have told him that was still in his nose." A mischievous smile replaced her halfhearted self-demeaning glare.

"Yeah…I probably should have."

--------------------------------

"Booth, please! Stop being such a child. I said I was sorry." Brennan had been enduring one of the most gruesome silent treatments of her life ever since Booth made it back from the lobby with his luggage…minus the toilet paper nose plug.

Booth just glanced at her meaningfully and pulled into the station.

"You did that on purpose." He grumbled, hastily exiting the SUV.

"Booth!" She whined, running up beside him and then stepping in his path.

"I promise I didn't really mean it Booth. Not in a mean way. It was just a joke…I thought you liked jokes." She furrowed her brow and turned her clear blue eyes up at him, she didn't like having Booth upset with her.

Booth pursed his lips. "I looked like an idiot."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Booth held his stony expression for a few more seconds before softening it into a grin that immediately put Brennan at ease.

"A joke huh?"

She nodded and Booth sighed.

"Alright. I can take a joke." He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and walked inside the station before she could protest his 'unprofessionalism'.

-----------------------------

Brennan watched from the other side of the one-way glass as Booth did his best to scare the crap out of a seemingly unshakable Meth dealer and she noted with interest that he was very different from most drug dealers she'd met.

JR was clean-shaven, his hair combed and gelled. A nice suit and straight teeth. In fact, JR looked more like a well-paid lawyer than a drug dealer. But his aversion to interrogation, that was definitely indicative to someone who was used to being on the wrong side of this glass.

Booth joined her in the observation room and she turned to him.

"Anything?"

Booth ran a hand across his face and loosened his tie.

"Not a darn thing. He lawyered up when I touched on the lab in South so I think he knows something. The squints call back yet?"

Brennan shook her head, just as her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and raised an eyebrow at him.

"How did you do that?" She teased, and he met her with a disarming charm smile.

"Hi Angela." Brennan plugged her other ear as Booth's phone rang and the sound echoed off the walls.

"Hey Sweetie. I finished the face, turn on your lap top and I'll show you."

"Okay Ange, hold on." Brennan busied herself retrieving her laptop from her bag and hardly noticed Booth move to take his call outside.

"Okay, Angela, I'm all set up."

Angela's face popped up on her screen.

"Hello there. Okay, so I'm running the face through missing persons, but so far there haven't been any hits. The dentals are useless because of the meth."

"Do you think the victim was a user?"

"Um…no, this particular pattern of wear doesn't look like that of direct meth consumption. It's more likely the teeth were exposed to the damage post mortem."

"Okay, well, lets see it Ange."

Angela nodded and her face was replaced with a lifelike drawing of an older man with thick dark hair and smiling eyes.

Brennan squinted at the picture, trying to decide whether or not she recognized him.

"What is that?"

Brennan turned, Booth's voice startlingly sharp. He'd just reentered the room and had one long finger thrust out toward her laptop screen.

"Angela's picture of the victim, why?" Brennan's brows knitted together, _why does he seem so angry?_

Booth stared at the screen for a moment before whipping out his phone and pressing a few numbers. He paced furiously, taking glances at the screen every few seconds as if he expected the face to change.

"Booth? Booth!" Brennan tried, but there was no response to her calls for his attention.

_Pick up, pick up! That can't be right…it's gotta be wrong…but the squints are never wrong…_

That's what scared him most.

**Well, I think most of you have figured out what happened to you know who...and if you havent, it will be clear in the next chap. Please R&R! **


	12. Proof

**Well I was right, most of you guessed it...and I'm SO sorry for doing this...(I really AM evil!)**

**

* * *

**_1983_

_"There's twelve seconds on the clock…just enough time for the Flying Falcons to score the winning touch down." A staticy voice boomed over the bleachers and their occupants of parents and friends. They watched anxiously as the game before them progressed on the miniature football field._

_Sam and Caroline Booth sat in the front row, their boy Seeley was the quarterback and they didn't want to miss a second._

_Sam's chest swelled with pride as his eleven-year-old son caught the hike and took three giant steps backward, his right arm drawn all the way back by his ear, his left pointed out in front of him as he searched for an open receiver._

_Seeley squinted, the setting sun doing nothing good for his visibility and his helmet slumped forward again. He ignored it._

_There were grunts and groans of pain all around as his line backers prevented him from being sacked by the other team, but he knew his time was running short._

_He needed to get rid of the ball._

_And he saw him. Troy was running full tilt for the end zone…and he was all alone. This was it. Seeley took a deep breath and launched the football through the air in a perfect spiral. Troy felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and he spun around, to find a oblong pig-skin ball flying right at him._

_Sticking out his arms, Troy jumped as high as his legs would carry him and the whole crowd held their breath._

C'mon Troy, c'mon buddy_. Seeley stood motionless on the field, waiting._

_A small grin broke out on Troy's lips and he snatched the ball from the air with ease, falling to the ground in a heap, but holding on tight._

_"TOUCHDOWN FALCONS!"_

_"YES!!" Seeley jumped in the air, pumping his fists as the buzzer sounded and he took off down the field. Troy jumped to his feet, holding the ball high above his head like a trophy and he grinned when he saw the boy with the #2 jersey heading toward him._

_Seeley ran as fast as he could down the field and slammed his body into Troy, sending both boys to the ground in a fit of excited laughter._

_"We did it! We did it!" Shouts, whoops and screams of ecstasy rang out on the field as the whole team ran to meet the two laughing boys in the end zone._

_"We never ran that play in practice, how'd you know Troy?" Seeley panted as he pulled grass from between the bars in his facemask._

_"I knew you wouldn't let us down Seeley." Troy's triumphant grin was met with one of Seeley's own just as they disappeared under a mass of scrawny eleven-year-old arms, legs and worn out football gear.

* * *

_

"Sweetie what's going on?" Angela's face came back to the screen and she took in the scene before her. Brennan sat watching almost helplessly as Booth paced back and forth, quite obviously agitated about something.

"I don't know Ange." Brennan replied quietly.

Booth cursed and snapped his phone shut. There was no answer.

"Angela are you sure that face is accurate?" He barked.

Angela frowned at the question. "Of course I am, Booth what's wrong?"

He looked as if he was about to answer when his phone rang again and he left the room.

"Angela." Brennan turned back to her computer screen, worry painted across her face.

"Just calm down Sweetie, I'm sure he's fine…" Angela's eyes flickered toward someone off screen. "Bren, Zach is going to transfer you to a computer out in the lab. He says he's found something."

Brennan glanced nervously out into the hallway where she could see Booth walking back and forth past the small window.

"Okay. Yeah." She nodded and turned herself fully toward her lap top, wanting to be rid of the worry in her chest.

Seconds later Zach's face filled her screen.

"Dr. Brennan, I finished cleaning the bones and I found some scarring on the pelvic bone."

"Show me Zach."

A picture of a magnified bone with a strange holey pattern all over it filled the screen. Brennan pushed her worry into the back of her mind so she could focus.

"Cancer." She sighed.

"Yes Dr. Brennan, I believe so, but at least in this area it is obvious the scarring is several years old, but over here…" The picture on the screen moved to show a different area, "this is fresh."

Brennan sat back in her chair and stared at Zach, nodding her agreement. She didn't know what exactly all this meant…but whatever it was, she was sure it wouldn't be good for Booth.

------

"Booth." He flipped open his phone and let the door click behind him, shutting out, for the moment at least, the concerned stares he was getting from Bones and Angela.

"Seeley? Did you just call me?"

Booth sighed and continued pacing, he felt as tired as he'd ever been but couldn't seem to stop moving.

"Yeah, I did Tom. Listen…has there been any activity at the cabin lately? Is Dad there?"

The man on the other end of the line sounded puzzled.

"No, of course not Seeley, you know your father hardly ever uses the cabin after hunting season is over."

Booth felt his chest get tight and he forced his impending panic back down where it belonged.

"Please Tom, are you sure? I mean no activity whatsoever? He and Mom had a huge fight, and sometimes he likes to go up there to cool off." Booth closed his eyes as he waited for the response.

"No…Seeley I'm sorry. I was just over there this morning storing some wood in the shed…he's not there. Is everything okay?" Tom wasn't used to the tight tone the usually laid back young man was displaying.

Booth felt his heart cave in on itself with every word Tom said and he wondered if he was still breathing.

"No…Tom. I don't think it is." Booth shut his phone and hung his head.

_I can't believe this is happening. This can't be happening. It's got to be a mistake._

Booth turned to head back into the observation room with Brennan and opened the door just in time to hear her say a word that still sent shivers down his spine.

"Cancer."

"Yes Dr. Brennan, I believe so, but at least in this area it is obvious the scarring is several years old, but over here…this is fresh."

Booth leaned his shoulder against the doorframe for support. He felt like throwing up.

"It came back?" He asked in a surprisingly steady tone.

Brennan whirled around at the sound of his voice and was horrified at the pale color of his face.

Zach, completely oblivious to the tension on the other side of the screen, simply continued his analysis.

"Yes, Agent Booth. Most likely prostate cancer that was treated almost ten years ago, but it came back recently. It was aggressive. The victim would have been dead within six months without treatment."

Booth looked as if he'd been punched in the stomach and Brennan slammed down the top of her laptop, much to Zach's confusion.

"Booth? What's going on? Who is this man." Brennan crossed the room to him and tried to get him to sit in a chair, afraid he would topple over on seemingly unsteady legs.

Booth shook his head and only allowed himself the comfort of her hand in his. He still couldn't bring himself to believe it.

"What makes you think I know him?" His voice was hoarse and he made an effort to remember deep breaths.

"Well I wouldn't except you're flipping out."

She was right, he was flipping out. And if he hadn't been flipping out he would have congratulated her on the proper use of the phrase 'flipping out'.

Booth swallowed hard and took a deep breath, trying to ignore Brennan's eyes boring into his skin.

"Let's go Bones." He moved briskly out of the room and down the hall, wanting desperately to hold her, but needing proof more.

Twenty agonizingly silent minutes later the SUV pulled into the driveway of a small one-story house just outside the city.

"Booth where are we?" Brennan asked as she rounded to he front of the SUV to meet him.

He immediately grasped her hand and pulled her toward the front door.

"Home."

His answer startled her out of more questions and she simply followed him.

Without knocking, and much to Brennan's surprise, Booth tried the doorknob. As he expected, it was unlocked and he pushed the door open and walked inside. Not saying a word he disappeared around the corner and the ever-curious Brennan took a moment to take in her surroundings.

To the immediate left of the door were a coat closet and a tray for boots. To her right was an open living room with an overstuffed couch, love seat and a big screen TV next to a large bay window.

She turned when she heard Booth coming back from where he'd disappeared down the hall.

He handed her a picture frame.

"You recognize him?"

Brennan looked down at the picture he'd placed in her hands. A handsome dark haired man in his late forties standing behind a smiling woman with deep brown eyes smiled up at her. She squinted at the man in the picture and realization slammed into her like a semi-truck.

_The way he acted after seeing Ange's drawing…the constant phone calls…home…_

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

_Oh no._

Booth saw her face change even though she wasn't looking at him and his stomach sank.

_I need to know for sure._

Taking a small step forward, he placed his hands on her shoulders and waited for her to look up at him. She finally did, her face impassive, but blue eyes glassy.

"I'm so sorry Booth." She whispered.

He tightened his grip.

"Sorry for what?" By the look on her face, he already knew he didn't want the answer.

She hesitated and handed him back the picture.

"It's a visual match. The victim is your father."

**Holy Canolies Batman!! What's gonna happen next? Tune in next time on the Original Philadelphia...lol. **


	13. What does he need?

**Hello everybody, how are we doing on this lovely bonesday morning? (It's 12:50am where I am. lol) Enjoy the chap.**

**A/N: No, I don't own Bones...but a girl can dream can't she??**

_

* * *

_

_1988_

_"Aw Dad_ c'mon_! Do we_ have _to do this_ right _now?" Seeley whined, wiping grease off his forehead and nose._

_"I promised your mother."_

_"But Dad! I'm seventeen. Don't you think the time for this conversation was about five years ago when I discovered Playboy?" Seeley grinned and raised an eyebrow to match his father's._

_"Playboy huh?"_

_Seeley shrugged. "Found 'em under Jared's bed." Then getting back to the subject at hand, he continued his plea for mercy._

_"Dad, I know how to treat a girl. Its just Prom you don't have to worry about it."_

_"I know you do Seeley, but they don't really cover the topic of safe sex in school and…"_

_"Dad!" Seeley was grateful his father had slid back under the car so he didn't see the bright red blush creeping into his cheeks at what his father was implying._

_"I'm just saying Seeley, it only takes one time. I was a teenage boy once too ya' know. I know what's running through that hormonal little head of yours." Sam Booth slid out from under the car and waggled a flat head screwdriver at his son._

_"Dad please. Give me a little credit here. Rebecca and I are just going to dance. Nothing is going to happen." He lifted his water to his lips and closed his eyes to the mocking voice in the back of his mind._

Then why do you have a Motel room booked already? Planning a little after party are we Seeley?

_"Only if I'm lucky." He muttered aloud._

_"What was that?"_

_"Nothing Dad."_

_Sam sighed and sat up to look Seeley in the eye._

_"Seeley. You know Rebecca wants kids one day and…"_

_Seeley almost choked on his drink._

_"Kids?! Kids Dad? Where did that…I mean who…what…kids?"_

_Sam smiled at his sputtering son._

_"You'll wear protection then?"_

_"Dad we're not going to…"_

_"Seeley." Sam frowned._

_Booth sighed. "Yessir. I'll wear…I'll do that."_

_"Good. Now when she asks, tell your Mom we had a good long talk about it."_

_"Sure thing Dad."_

_"That's my boy, now hand me a…a 5/8 wrench."

* * *

_

Booth nodded slowly, dropping his arms to his sides.

"I knew that." He whispered and stared over her shoulder at the kitchen wall. "I guess I knew that."

Brennan studied him intently, wishing she knew better how to handle such a situation.

_What did Booth do for me when I was going through this?_

She thought she remembered something, but Thai food didn't sound very practical at the moment.

"Booth." No response. He didn't even seem to be in the same room with her.

"Booth." She repeated, taking his face in her hands. After a moment his eyes focused on hers. "Talk to me Baby, are you okay?"

A crooked smile that didn't reach his eyes broke up the melancholy of his face.

"I can't call you Babe, you can't call me Baby."

Brennan frowned.

_Why is he joking at a time like this?_

"Seeley is that you?" They turned around to find a woman Brennan recognized from the picture coming out of the coat closet, that apparently wasn't a coat closet, but the steps to the basement.

Caroline rushed at her son, so relieved to see him she hardly noticed the strange woman at his side.

"Hi Mom." Booth tensed up as his mother rushed into an embrace.

Brennan started to pull away but Booth grasped her waist, keeping her close. He glanced over at her and she gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Caroline." She stepped back from Booth, sensing his tension and directed her attention to Brennan.

Booth cleared his throat.

"Mom, this is Dr. Temperance Brennan, Bones, this is my Mother."

Brennan extended the hand not wrapped around Booth.

"Dr. Brennan? Your partner Seeley?" Caoline asked.

Brennan looked at Booth and saw him struggling for an answer.

"Yeah…partners…something like that." Brennan answered for him, not sure whether or not 'girlfriend' applied after a single afternoon together and a few dozen passionate kisses.

Booth squeezed her hip gratefully, he didn't really want to get into their complicated and somewhat vague relationship with his mother right then.

"It's very nice to meet you Dr. Brennan. Seeley speaks of nothing else."

"Thank you…it's very nice to meet you as well." Brennan decided to act on the side of politeness, although what Caroline had done to Booth just in the past day made her blood boil. She forced a smile, for whose benefit she wasn't sure.

"Call me Temperance, please."

"Sure, Temperance. So why are you…"

"Mom, I need to speak to you and Jared, is he here?" Booth cut off the conversation before it got started. He just wanted to get this over with.

"Yeah, of course Seeley…I'll go get him." Caroline tried not to look confused at her son's edgy behavior. It wasn't like him, but she had dropped a pretty big bomb on him two nights before, it was understandable that he be upset. At least he was there.

Booth turned to the scientist in his arms after his mother disappeared through the living room toward the bedrooms.

"Bones, would it be alright if…I just think I should do this alone." Booth winced slightly, not sure what her reaction would be.

"Of course Booth…are you sure?" Brennan was slightly relieved. Delivering this kind of news to a family she didn't know was one thing. But this was Booth's family, it would kill her if she said something wrong…which she had a nasty habit of doing.

Booth nodded mutely and attempted a smile as Brennan stared at him a moment too long. He couldn't take the way her clear blue eyes were probing his brown ones, the way they seemed to touch deep inside his soul. A place where he felt only empty at the moment.

He didn't want her to see that.

In one swift motion he pushed both his hands into her hair and bent his head to kiss her. Skipping right past gentle and going straight to hungry, he kissed her until he had to close his eyes because his vision was getting blurry.

Brennan felt his tense muscles under her grip and knew, as much as she wanted it, the kiss…this kiss, was not what he needed right then.

"Booth." She pulled away just enough to speak, their foreheads leaning against one another, his hands slid down until they held her face in them.

"Hmmm?"

"What do you need from me? I want to help." She said softly.

Booth closed his eyes again, this time trying to think of something to say, but was interrupted by a loud and familiar voice making whooping noises.

"Whoa! Look at you Seeley my boy! Mackin' the ladies as usual." Jared laughed and stuffed one hand into his baggy basketball shorts while adjusting his backwards ball cap with the other.

"Some things never change huh little brother?"

Brennan blushed and immediately pulled away, Booth's hand once again finding hers and lacing fingers. It was as if he couldn't bring himself to lose physical contact with her.

Booth sighed. "Jared, this is my…this is Dr. Brennan, Bones, my brother Jared."

Brennan smiled and nodded politely before turning to Booth.

Leaning in close to his ear she whispered, "I'll be right outside if you need me."

He nodded and stole a quick kiss before reluctantly letting go of her hand and watching her walk out the front door.

"Jared, Mom, why don't we sit down?"

Brennan shut the door quietly and sunk down onto the first step of the porch, tryiing to ignore the impending panic she felt seeping into her blood.

_I can do this. I love Booth. I know that._ She told herself, carefully dissecting a dandelion flower she'd plucked from the grass beside her. _But before it was just his parents separating. A situation that is sad, but manageable. This is…this is so much bigger. Booth was very close to his father…how do I do this?_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft vibration in her hip pocket.

"Angela, just the person I wanted to talk to." She breathed a sigh of relief and ran a hand through her auburn hair.

"Hey Sweetie, what's up? Zach said you hung up on him and Booth seemed pretty upset earlier."

"Yeah…about that…" Brennan hesitated, and a moment too long for Angela's liking.

"What is it Bren?"

"Ange…the victim…Booth knows the victim."

"The Meth lab guy?" Angela glanced at her sketchbook where the victim's portrait was still splayed out on top. "How?"

Brennan bit her lip. "Oh Ange…it's…the victim is…Booth's father."

Angela covered her mouth, making her 'Oh my God' come out muffled.

"I know. I know. This is huge and I don't know what to do. How do I comfort him during something like this? It's horrible for him…but I have no idea…we haven't even…I mean we aren't…Ange I don't know what to do."

"Okay Sweetie, just calm down. You're his partner. I mean…what did Booth do when you found out about your mother? Thai food right?"

"No Ange. We're more than partners. More than friends."

After scolding Angela for squealing at a time like this, Brennan explained all the events since they'd first landed in Philadelphia. Everything from her rather embarrassing attempt at dancing in the kitchen, to their almost sexual encounter in her hotel room.

"I'm going to kill Zach."

"Angela!"

"Okay, okay Sweetie I know. Not important." Angela took a moment to gather her thoughts, finally she sighed.

"I don't know Bren…you're right. This is huge. But from what I know about Booth…just your being there will help. Just do your best. Make sure he doesn't work himself into the ground, since that seems to be the way both of you deal with stress. If he wants a few drinks, make sure he doesn't drive, and if he feels like crying…let him, Sweetie. Just be yourself and be there for him. That's what he needs. And if there's anything else...he'll tell you."

Brennan nodded into the cell phone.

"I can do that."

"I know you can. Be strong...for both of you."

Brennan hung up just as the front door opened, revealing a tired and angry Booth.

_Who is he angry at?_ She wondered.

Booth met her eyes briefly and went passed her toward the car. Brennan followed him, as she passed the large bay window in the living room she peaked inside and saw Booth's mother hugging Jared, her head buried in his chest, both of them sobbing.

"Booth, are you sure you don't want to stay with them?" Brennan asked once they were both in the car. If the way he was speeding out of the driveway and down the street was any indication, the answer to that was a 'yes'.

"Yes, I'm sure Bones. We have a case to solve." Booth said calmly, professional detachment in full swing.

_He sounds like me._

"Booth…"

"Bones," He warned, "I'm fine."

Brennan watched him for a moment longer before turning and staring out at the road.

_If I know anything, I know this Agent Booth._ you _are_ not _fine._

**Hope you enjoyed it! Lemmeknow!**


	14. Booth's Big Break

2001 

"Yeah…yeah…he's beautiful. 8 pounds 21 inches long, bald as his bottom." Seeley grinned into the telephone and attempted to speak softly so as not to disturb the quiet of the hospital.

A nurse down the hallway started waving to him.

"Dad I gotta go. Give mom a kiss for me, tell her I love her. Yeah, I'll tell Rebecca your coming…No Dad, I'm sure it'll give her thrills and chills…Yessir that was sarcasm. Sorry…yeah, Iloveyoutoobye."

Seeley already had the phone halfway to the cradle as he rattled off the last words and started running toward the nurse.

"Yeah?" He asked breathlessly.

"Mr. Booth? You can come in and hold him now."

Seeley's face lit up and he followed the nurse closely down the hallway, hardly able to contain the butterflies having a convention in his stomach.

He was about to meet his son.

Rebecca had not allowed him in the delivery room, a betrayal he was sure would sting to his death. But he'd seen the small boy through the window when the nurses took him to clean him up. And he'd instantly fallen in love.

After the delivery they said the mother needed a few minutes alone with the child and they would call when he could come in and see him.

The nurse held the door open for him and for a second Seeley couldn't move.

Rebecca sat on the hospital bed, her blonde hair laying limply on her shoulders, her face drawn with exhaustion, but even so her eyes danced as she stared down at the baby in her arms.

"Are you coming in Mr. Booth?"

Seeley just nodded and slipped in the room in one big step. He watched the baby sleeping contently in his mother's arms for a moment, completely in awe.

"Can…can I hold him?" He asked timidly, approaching the side of the bed.

Rebecca just nodded and Seeley bent over to scoop the child out of his mother's arms.

The warm little bundle cuddled up against his chest and literally took Seeley's breath way. So soft and pink and absolutely stunning. He stared at the child unblinking, afraid if he looked away this little miracle would turn out to be a dream.

After a few moments he finally regained his ability to speak.

"What's his name?" He whispered hoarsely.

"Parker." Rebecca said slowly, caught up in watching the man who was almost hers hold their son so tenderly.

Booth smiled down at the child.

"Hi Parker. How are you buddy?" He sighed and ran his thumb lightly over the tiny hand gripping his right forefinger. "I'm your Dad."

Brennan watched him from the doorway for a few minutes, and absently sipped the black coffee in her hands, before she remembered it wasn't for her.

Booth had long ago discarded his tie and suit jacket and he sat hunched over dozens of papers splayed out before him on the table. He squinted at the paper in his hands and threw it down in disgust, obviously it didn't contain the break in the case he was looking for. Of course, it hadn't contained the break in the case the last three times he looked at it.

Booth sighed, leaning back in his chair, he rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt and turned his head from side to side, attempting to loosen tight knots in his shoulders.

After leaving Booth's parent's house they'd immediately gone back to the station to look back over the files. That was four hours ago.

"You wanna try s'more of that Japanese massage Bones?" Booth didn't even open his eyes.

Brennan moved into the room and set his coffee cup down in front of him.

"How'd you know I was there?" She sat down in a chair and turned to face him.

Booth opened his eyes, a small smile of amusement growing on his lips.

"Right. Sniper. Nevermind." She bit her lip for a moment and watched Booth roll his shoulders a couple times and down the hot coffee in a single gulp.

"Thanks Bones." He crushed the Styrofoam cup in his hand and tossed it at the garbage bin. Missing completely.

Brennan just nodded and he hunched back over his papers.

"Booth." She touched his forearm. "Why don't you take a break, hmm?"

He shook his head. "Can't."

"Yes. You can." She pulled him up as she got to her feet and winced when his back cracked. "Why don't we go for a walk? You need to clear your head."

Booth conceded, she was right, after all. He stuck his hands in his pockets and she wound her arms around one of his and led him down the hall and out the front doors.

Spring welcomed them outside, the weather quite amiable, as it had been at the park. The sun shown brightly and every bird in the city seemed to be in a singing mood. A slight breeze helped ward off the heat and flowers were in full bloom everywhere.

Booth didn't really notice it though. His thoughts were too wrapped up inside his head to notice the weather.

Brennan saw the thoughtfulness of his face and wanted in on what he was thinking.

"Nickel for your thoughts."

Booth half smiled. "Penny. Penny for your thoughts."

Brennan nudged him lightly.

"I know. Inflation."

This made Booth laugh out loud and Brennan smiled triumphantly.

Who knows her man?…wait…my man? Ugh. Angela.

Feeling a surge of confidence with her ability to lighten Booth's mood, she continued.

"So what's got you in such a sullen mood all of a sudden?"

Booth looked at her sharply and she instantly stopped walking and slipped her arms away from his.

"I'm so sorry. That's not what I meant Booth…"

Booth quieted her panic with a motion of his hand.

"It's alright Bones. I know what you mean." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, "In answer to your question…my mom. Again. When I told them…she broke down. Almost immediately. I mean it shouldn't have been a surprise, right? She was married to…him for thirty-five years. She's known him since college…" He was pacing now, Brennan watching helplessly from the sidelines with her arms crossed over herself.

"Even so all it did was make me angry. All I could think was…why do you care? You cheated on him with another man, this Jerry guy...how much could you have cared about him and still do that?" He stopped moving and stared at the ground, his agitation again being replaced with thoughtfulness.

"Booth?" She took a step forward and then a step back when he turned to her suddenly.

"Jerry." He said definitively, as if he'd just stated the date or told her the time.

Brennan squinted at him. He had that look. The look he got when something finally clicked and it all made sense.

The look he got when he solved the case.

Brennan was about to ask what he knew when he suddenly ran passed her and darted inside the building.

She followed and finally caught up to him in the office they'd been using. He was scattering paper everywhere, hardly noticing when Brennan called for his attention.

"Here!" he picked up a rap sheet and scanned it quickly.

His eyes turned from earnest to livid in seconds. Booth turned to Brennan, almost too angry to speak.

"What is it Booth?"

"Jerry. Jerry Rutherford. Or as the Meth addicts like to call him, JR." He slammed the paper back down on the table and ran out the door.

Brennan stared at the paper for a moment, between Booth and the case…her mind wasn't working as fast as usual.

Jerry…the affair guy…JR…the Meth guy…JR and Jerry…oh no

Brennan took off after Booth, hoping she wasn't too late. She saw he'd paused to talk to an officer, but she already knew where he was going.

JR had been moved to an interrogation room very near the break room where she'd gone to get coffee, that was where he was headed. She stopped and slipped off her heels before sprinting down the hall. She had to stop him. She had to.

"Dr. Brennan?" The officer Booth had just been talking to watched in dismay as the calm, collected, aloof scientist ran through the hallway of the station in bare feet.

"Booth! Booth stop!"

He ignored her voice, or maybe he just didn't hear it. Either way, he reached for the doorknob, only to find it wouldn't open.

He blinked. Somehow Brennan had managed to wedge herself in between him and the door, she was blocking his entry.

"Bones. Move." He said darkly, his eyes focused on the man behind the door. The man who killed his father.

"Booth, you need to calm down. Please." Brennan pleaded, completely unaware of the crowd of officers forming a ring around them, come to see what the Agent and his crazy partner were up to now.

"Temperance. Move out of my way right now." Booth's grip tightened on the doorknob and Brennan pressed her back up against it firmly. She had to keep him out.

Booth would kill that man. She knew it, and she couldn't let it happen.

"No Booth. I will not let you ruin you career over this." She told him as quietly as possible, she'd suddenly noticed the crowd and didn't feel like putting on a show. Booth unfortunately had not noticed.

He was blind. Blind with rage, deaf with anguish and numb with grief. Which is why he said what he said next.

"THIS? What is THIS Temperance? That man KILLED my father. Stabbed him to death and left him to rot in that filthy Meth lab and you're worried about my CAREER?" He shook his head. "That's cold Bones. Even for you."

Brennan's mouth dropped open. She felt like he'd slapped her.

Cold? I'm not cold…You don't think that…do you Booth?

She drew her bottom lip in between her teeth and blinked back tears stinging at her eyes. Her arms, which had been spread out to her sides blocking the door, fell to her side and she stood down her defensive posture. Without a word she dropped her gaze to the floor and slowly started to walk away down the hall.

Booth was shocked to see tears begin to form on her eyes and the horror that crossed her face only served to confuse him more.

What did I say?

He furrowed his brow as he replayed the conversation/argument in his head.

interrogation room 3…running…doorknob…Bones…she wouldn't let me in…I told her to move…she didn't want me to ruin my career…this…what is this…killed my father…that's cold bones, even for you

He sucked in his breath and cursed. Loud.


	15. The Throws of Passion

**Okay, so I know what Booth said was harsh, but i promise they won't be mad long. This is the promised chap, though it won't be as explicit as some M things, I did my best...being that I have absolutly zero experience in the M area of life...don't judge me too harshly and I hope you enjoy...**

**RATED M**

**

* * *

**_1980_

_Caroline felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and every muscle in her body tensed._

_Her ears strained to hear, but the apartment was filled with silence._

_Everyday that week had been like this. Summer vacation was driving her insane, now her son and his friends had nothing to keep their time occupied, which led to many little adventures in and around their neighborhood._

_Dozens of times already neighbors had called because the boys had climbed something they shouldn't, eaten something they shouldn't or, God forbid, gotten the sudden urge to free something they shouldn't._

_Mr. Todd still hadn't found all his Brazilian Parrots._

_She turned her head to the side and listened, she could have sworn she'd heard something from the living room. But when she went to look, there was nothing._

_The boys had been particularly restless for the past week because of the unnaturally warm weather. Their usually annoying antics had turned nearly unbearable and Caroline was ready to pull her hair out._

_In the past week alone she'd found a bullfrog in her best cooking pot, a wad of bubble gum the size of her fist stuck in the toilet pipes, and, her personal favorite, all her tomatoes and eggs had gone missing when the boys decided to test gravity off the roof. To make matters worse, she knew exactly who came up with all these little 'projects'. Her son Seeley was the ringleader of their little eight-year-old terror tribe._

_And that wasn't even the worst of it. That smile was. That smile that got him out of absolutely everything because when he wore it she couldn't bring herself to discipline him._

_Suddenly Caroline felt cool water soaking into her blouse. She turned around and was surrounded by whooping and hollering half naked little natives. Each of the boys had their shirts tied around their heads like bandanas and were soaking her with icy streams of water from hand-held squirt guns._

_"Alien! Kill the alien!" They chanted, grins so wide it hurt to look at them._

_"Seeley Booth!" Caroline shouted, face red, brown eyes narrowed menacingly._

_The other boys recognized the look and took off to hide in Seeley's room._

_Seeley just stood there though, wearing that smile._

_"That was just…" She quickly reached behind her and pulled off the hand spout next to the faucet. In one swift motion she threw on the water and pointed the sprayer at Seeley, "a bad idea."_

_"What the…" Streams of water came shooting out and in seconds Seeley was drenched, Caroline laughed uncontrollably._

_"Mom! Quit it! Hey!"_

_When his mother showed no signs of stopping and he realized his friends were nowhere in sight, Seeley suddenly jumped to his feet and ran to his room, accidentally leaving the squirt gun behind._

_"Mom!" He shouted over his shoulder. "Not cool!"_

_"All's fair!" Caroline responded, picking up the water gun and placing it inside the high cupboard over the refrigerator, along with Seeley's other weapons of minor destruction he'd "lost" over the years. His BB gun and sling-shot hadn't seen the light of day since he started kindergarten._

That boy is going to wear me out._ She thought with a smile,_ And I wouldn't have it any other way.

_

* * *

_

Booth closed his eyes.

_I can't believe I just said that. I need to go after her, she's going to hate me._

He wanted to move, wanted to go after her, but his hand seemed glued to the doorknob.

He could hear whispers from the other officers all around him, they all probably thought he was crazy.

_Maybe they're right._

A pressure was laid on his right arm and he saw unfamiliar fingers slowly curl around his hand and slowly pull it away from the doorknob.

"You're father Seeley?"

Booth turned toward the hand and faced a short, thin officer named Peters. Booth recognized him and thought it strange the man didn't seem to have aged at all in the eighteen years since Booth's first speeding ticket.

Peters shook his head slowly.

"You know better Seeley. You can't be on this case. I'll take over."

He got no reaction from the young agent and glanced down the hall in the direction Brennan had gone.

"Go, Seeley. Go after her."

Officer Peters had known Booth for a long time, and he knew there was something about these "partners". Something about the way she watched him out of the corner of her eye when she thought no one could see. The way he used any excuse to touch her and played it off as an accident. He knew Booth needed her.

"Seeley." Peters said again, this time Booth's dark eyes seemed to focus on him. He blinked and glanced between Peters, the doorknob and the direction Bones had gone.

Booth nodded and went down the hall after Brennan.

Brennan stopped walking, faced a window and wiped her eyes before her tears escaped. She was trying so hard to do what was right. Was Booth's outburst a sign that she was wrong? That she was only in the way and he didn't want her there?

_No. Of course not. He didn't mean it. I know he didn't mean it. I shouldn't be upset. He just lost his father for God's sake. He doesn't know what he's doing._

She took a deep breath and noticed that she hadn't heard the door open so she assumed the other officers had kept Booth from barging in the interrogation room and killing their suspect.

"Bones."

Brennan closed her eyes. His voice was soft and pleading right behind her, sending shivers down her spine.

"I didn't mean it Bones, honestly. I don't think you're cold, I know you feel deeply for each victim, so much more than you let on. I'm sorry…"

Brennan turned and quieted him with two fingers placed softly over his lips.

"It's fine Booth. I know you didn't mean it. You're just upset, and understandably so." She smiled sadly up at him and he breathed a sigh of relief before pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her.

"I shouldn't have said that to you."

She nodded against his chest.

"You're probably right. But I've said some pretty horrible things to you when I was stressed…I think your allowed this time."

Booth kissed the top of her head softly and rested his chin on it, drinking in the silence and the feel of her heartbeat against him.

He sighed. "It's getting late. We should go, we've still got to book a flight out of here."

Brennan pulled back and looked at him, confused.

"What? What about the suspect?"

Booth guided them back toward the office to gather their things.

"I'm off the case. One of the other officers is taking over. I shouldn't have been working it after finding out who…I could've jeopardized the case." Booth was still angry at himself for that.

Brennan helped him gather all the papers back into the file and he grabbed his jacket.

Outside the sun had gone down and the two partners walked side by side out to the SUV, hands threaded behind each other's backs holding on at the waist.

"Well once Zach and the others finish with their evidence, there should be enough to convict JR." She said thoughtfully once they were both in the car.

"Yeah." He tapped the steering wheel with his fingers and stared out the windshield, still not having turned the car on.

Brennan bit her lip.

"Sorry. I shouldn't be talking about the case. I'm sure that's the last thing you want to hear about."

Booth turned to her and smiled slowly.

"It's alright Bones."

Brennan returned the smile and watched his eyes cloud back over as he stared past her out the window.

"Booth, maybe I should drive?"

He frowned immediately and turned the key in the ignition.

"Nonsense, I can drive, I just need to know where we're going."

Brennan shrugged as they pulled out into traffic. "You're driving, you tell me."

Booth thought for a moment, he really didn't want to be in a crowd of people. "Well, I've got this key to a certain mini-bar and it's burning a hole in my pocket…" He gave her a lopsided grin and she nodded.

After the day they'd had, drinks in a quiet hotel room sounded pretty good.

-------------------------------------

Brennan lifted her heavy eyelids at 4am and sighed. She and Booth had been in the middle of their eleventh miniature bottle of liquor when she'd fallen asleep on him. She hadn't meant to, but alcohol tended to have that effect on her, hence the reason she drank when she was upset. It was a shame too because she'd been enjoying that strange movie they'd been watching. Anthropologically speaking it had been quite stimulating.

_Star gaze…galaxy wars…star light…..Star Wars…that's it._ She thought groggily as she pushed off the bed and went to the bathroom.

She hissed when she stepped on a bottle cap on her way back out and glanced at the bed to make sure she hadn't woken Booth. That was when she realized he wasn't in the bed.

"Booth?" Brennan searched the dark bedroom for any sign of him, and found none. She padded out into the lounge, unconsciously bunching the hem of her T-shirt in her fists as she squinted through the darkness for his form.

She felt a cool breeze lapping at her ankles and looked to find the door to the balcony open slightly, a tall, broad figure standing out on it.

She pushed aside the glass door and stepped out into the cool night.

"Booth?"

Booth turned toward her and smiled. She was stunning in the moonlight, her skin practically glowing.

"Hey. What are you doing awake?"

"I could ask you the same thing." She stood awkwardly near the door, wanting to approach but not sure if she should.

"I couldn't sleep." He smiled at her and shrugged.

Brennan wasn't fooled by his smile. Even in the dark his face was like an open book and she could read every line. She just wished she knew how to help him write the next chapter.

"That seems unlikely Booth, you consumed quite a lot of alcohol this evening." Brennan countered, although she knew immediately sarcasm was not the way to go. That only made it easier for him to distract himself from the real issue.

Well what do I know? Maybe distraction is what he needs, since he can't work himself into the ground in his time of distress…as Angela said.

Booth chuckled softly and turned to look at her fully, the sight of her in nothing but his t-shirt took his breath away.

"Sorry to disappoint you Bones, but it's gonna take a lot more than 7 six-ounce bottles of scotch to get me plastered."

He smiled at the confused look she gave him, no doubt wondering what plaster had to do with anything, but she simply shrugged it off and came to stand beside him and look out at the city.

In the light of the moon he saw goosebumps race across her skin.

"You're cold, you should go back inside. Go back to bed." He said gently, taking hold of her fingers and grimaced. They felt like ice cubes. He had pulled on sweatpants and a sweatshirt before coming out, but Brennan was still half naked.

"I'm not going unless you go." She said definitively, sighing and leaning into his arm.

Booth wasn't quite ready to face sleep, or lack thereof, just yet, so he pulled off his sweat shirt and handed it to her.

"Booth, if I wanted your sweatshirt I would have asked for it."

"I know. And if I wanted to wait until you asked I would have."

She glared at him but quickly took the shirt and pulled it over her head, snuggling her chin down in the collar and wrapping her arms around herself. It still smelled like Booth and it made her smile.

Booth pulled her so she was standing in front of him and wrapped his own arms around hers, pressing himself into her back. He hoped the closeness would generate some sort of heat. Even if it didn't, he still didn't mind being so close to Bones.

"Booth?"

"Bones."

"Am I…I mean we're together now…right?"

He gave her a slight squeeze. "I hope so, if that's what you want."

"I do." She said, just a little too quickly, "if that's the case…I was wondering…"

"Yeah?"

"Am I…or, do you think…that I am…doing this right?"

The hesitance in her voice puzzled him and he turned her around in his arms.

"What specifically? Because we haven't actually been…you know."

Brennan's clear blue eyes that looked almost navy in the darkness, grew wide.

"No…that's not what I mean. I mean that…you are…" _spit it out Brennan!_ "I mean that I'm horribly inept at reading people and I constantly put my foot in my mouth and you're going through an extremely difficult time right now and I was wondering if I'm doing this…relationship, support thing correctly. I don't want to ruin what we have but I'm worried that…"

Booth quieted her worries with a brush of his lips against hers.

"Don't worry Bones, just your being here is more comforting to me than all the mini bars in the world."

She smiled, her forehead resting against his. "Really?"

"Absolutely. Just…stay with me?" He asked in all seriousness.

She met his gaze, his eyes looking black and a faint blue hue on his face from the moon's reflection.

"Always." She whispered. Brennan knew that with a single word she'd decided what to do with the rest of her life.

Booth knew it too and couldn't contain himself, he suddenly leaned down and kissed her with such passion Brennan thought she heard fireworks. An entirely irrational, but surprisingly accurate description. She snaked her arms up around his neck and pulled him even tighter against herself.

When Booth started to reach for the hem of her shirt she realized what she was doing and she pulled away.

"Booth…you're not yourself."

"What are you talking about Bones. I'm me. The same me I've always been." He mumbled against the sensitive skin on her neck.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She breathed, trying desperately to keep herself in check when her whole body cried out to hold him, know him like no one else ever had.

Catching the meaning of her words Booth finally abandoned her neck and looked at her.

"If you're worried that this is a stress reaction…you're right." Her face fell, "But that doesn't change the fact that I've wanted to do this for nearly three years. It doesn't make the fact that I love you any less valid."

"You love me?" She couldn't help the small smile on her lips.

"I can't believe you have to ask." He squeezed her hips and kissed her again quickly.

"Bones…when I'm with you, all this…that's happening in my life, it doesn't feel so overwhelming. When I kiss you, the pain…it lessens for a while." Booth allowed his whisper to be carried away on the wind and waited for her reply. He would let her walk away if she wanted to, but he hoped she didn't.

Brennan listened to what he said carefully, knowing she had only one thing to say in return.

"I…I feel the same way. I love you and…well, all of the above." She smiled as his face lit up. "So why don't we take this inside?"

Booth followed her willingly, almost in shock with what was about to happen. He wondered if he should feel guilty for feeling so happy. But all thought went out the window the next time Brennan's lips met his and suddenly…the night ahead of him that would inevitably be sleepless didn't seem so bad.

The kisses were long and slow, wet and warm. He ran his tounge along her bottom lip and had to keep from smiling when she opened her mouth to him, their tounges struggling for dominance.

Booth found himself pressing her into a wall and hungirly moved from her mouth to her neck, decending slowly. Torturously slow. Brennan moaned and threw her head back, giving him more access to her skin as he pulled aside the collar of the oversized t-shirt and kissed her shoulder.

Brennan, quite used to taking control of these sorts of encounters and ready for Booth in every sense of the word, reached down between them for Booth's sweatpants, attempting to pull them down around the rather sizable buldge that had appeared. Booth suddenly pulled his lips away from her skin and looked at her.

"Please let me do this Temperance." Booth's hands remained poised on her bare hips and she looked into the black depths of his eyes, "You asked me earlier what I needed from you. Babe, I need this. I need to get lost in loving you."

Brennan blinked, her mouth parted slightly with words she couldn't find.

_I can do this. He wants our first time to be about losing himself in loving me. I can allow him that. After all the times he's been there for me, been exactly what I needed, I can do that for him._

Without another second's hesitation Brennan lifted her arms up over her head, giving over complete control to the one person in the world she trusted completely.

"Don't call me Babe." She murmered, and watched as a small smile graced his lips. Booth hadn't returned to kissing her. Instead he stared longingly at her bare body before him, sans everything except a pair of small salmon pink satin underwear. She remained completely still while his dark eyes mapped her body, his hands tracing feather light touches over every piece of skin he saw, followed closely by his lips.

Brennan gasped. When Booth made it down to her breasts, he took one into his mouth, his tongue pressing and licking softly against the tightened nub. His one hand pulled her closer while the other moved slowly across her peak, teasing but never touching the tip. Brennan chewed her bottom lip relentlessly, her hands fisted tightly in his hair as she lost herself in the sensations of him.

Booth found his mind no longer working, his thoughts were fuzzy and the only thing making it to his brain was the throbbing ache in his sex.

Brennan found her calfs pressed up against the bed and wondered how she got there. But as Booth laid her down, removing her panties for her, she found that she didn't really care.

Booth kissed and touched every part of her until he knew her body better than he knew himself. When she cried out his name in ecstasy, he almost came right in his boxers, his fingers doing their magic between her legs. Booth lifted his head from her chest long enough to find her eyes, and was glad to see the desire and permission he was hoping for in them.

And then he was inside her, Brennan had never felt anything like it and Booth closed his eyes, wanting to burn the moment into his memory. He moved and Brennan followed, allowing him to take the lead, take control and get lost in loving her.

It was a meeting of the minds, heart, body and soul. A body would tremble and neither knew where, or who, it had originated from.

Booth leaned down and whispered in her ear, knowing he was achingly close.

"Come for me Temperance." His voice was hoarse with passion. She did, and he did, and they gave themselves over to the massive throws of passion, pleasure neither had experienced before. The world shattered and was reborn.

He collapsed on top of her, Brennan's body still trembling, both gasping for air that was now heavy with heat and sweat.

"Thank you." He whispered after a few moments and his breathing had evened out enough to speak.

Brennan moved her head toward him, waiting until he opened his eyes and looked at her. When he did, she smiled.

"On the contrary, thank you."

**Okay...so that was my M. Hoped you liked it, cuz it will be the last of it's kind. **


	16. Irrational

**SO glad everyone is enjoying this fic, I'm enjoying your enjoymeant. lol. And remember everybody, I'm happy as long as you're reading, but it would be cool if you timid types just want to drop in a one word review, just so I know it's not empty out there in cyberspace.**

**This chap is Brennan and Angela girl talk, more BB in the next chap

* * *

**

_2004_

_The squints._

_Nobody wanted to work with the squints._

_Seeley Booth wasn't quite sure how he'd landed in this unfortunate situation, though he thought it had something to do with deliberately defying Cullen's orders on a recent case and making entry on a house when told to wait for SWAT._

_Never mind that they got the girl back. Never mind that the suspect had been arrested and sent to prison for 20 plus. All that mattered was that he defied orders and he had to be punished._

_So here he was. Knee deep in some garbage heap that did nothing good for his expensive dress shoes and his black suit jacket that was soaking up the rays of the sun, making him sweat on a perfectly good white shirt._

_He grimaced at the skeleton near his feet. It smelled horrible, it looked worse and yet there she was, a squint, poring over it with such intensity it made him want to stop and stare._

_A garbage heap! He was a cop for crying out loud. He should be out chasing bad guys, following leads…not babysitting some self-righteous glorified mortician._

_Of course, if one had to baby-sit…there could be worse choices. The scientist before him had dark auburn hair pulled back tightly in a ponytail. Her blue eyes flickered like fire when he asked her a question, and as annoying as he found it…it was also slightly amusing. She really was quite beautiful, and he knew there was a shapely body hidden underneath that blue vinyl jumpsuit._

_Seeley watched the woman, whom he'd begun calling Bones, even though she hated it. In fact, her annoyance amused him to no end._

_Now she was looking at him, smiling…he found she was even prettier when she smiled. He offered her his hand to help raise her to her feet, which she promptly ignored and got out of the heap on her own, smile still firmly in place._

_Maybe working with a squint won't be so bad.

* * *

_

**A week later...**

Brennan sat on the couch in her office attempting to concentrate on the report she was writing. She was having no luck though, her mind kept wandering.

She'd chosen to let Zach take over the "Meth case" as they called it. She and Booth agreed that their personal relationship would render her testimony useless at trail, if not discredit the entire case.

They couldn't allow that to happen.

So she'd opted instead for catching up on the many unidentified war victims from limbo, and finishing reports she'd been procrastinating.

Unfortunately Brennan's resolve was MIA. She sighed and pushed the papers away from her, running exhausted fingers through her hair.

Booth hadn't been sleeping much, spending the past few nights on her couch or in her bed…or in her kitchen or on her roof. He couldn't seem to stay asleep for more than a few hours and Brennan would often wake up, sensing his absence, and drag herself out of bed to look for him.

"Problem Sweetie?" Angela suddenly appeared at her door and plopped down on the couch next to her.

Brennan sighed again and leaned back.

"I can't concentrate."

Angela nodded and pulled her feet up under her while twirling her dark hair around her finger absently.

Brennan waited for a moment.

"Angela…did you want something?"

It wasn't like her friend to come to her office and not pump her for information. Especially since finding out she and Booth were a couple, Angela had become somewhat of a permanent fixture in Brennan's office, giggles and suggestive comments all over the place.

"No Sweetie, I just thought you might like some company."

Brennan frowned and nodded, relieved and puzzled by Angela's seeming sudden disinterest in her love life, leaning forward to make another attempt at finishing her report.

"Has Hodgins gotten the DNA results off the skin yet?" It had only been a couple days, but she was still hopeful.

Angela shook her head and glanced toward the door, earning another confused look from Brennan.

"The sample was so small, he's having a harder time than usual getting it analyzed."

Brennan nodded again and was about to respond when Zach poked his head inside her office.

"Dr. Brennan?"

Brennan noticed Angela suddenly tense and divert all her attention toward her former assistant.

"Yes, what is it Zach?"

"Um…may I come in?"

Brennan furrowed her brows and nodded.

_What's gotten into everyone all of a sudden?_

Zach came to stand in front of the two women, his hands jammed in the pockets of his lab coat.

"Well?"

Zach glanced at Angela, who nodded minutely for him to continue.

"I, um, wanted to let you know that I've taken x-rays and casts of all the bones, Dr. Saroyan is going to let me release them to Agent Booth so his family can have the funeral sooner."

Zach mumbled to the floor, as if unsure of the reply his actions would get. Dr. Brennan always said the evidence had to come first, they wouldn't ordinarily release the bones to the family before the case was closed…but this was different. This was Agent Booth.

Angela's face immediately lit up when Zach finished speaking and she looked over at Brennan to gauge her reaction. To her surprise, Brennan didn't seem angry, more like…shocked. Then as tears began to gather in her eyes, Angela became concerned.

"Sweetie?…"

Brennan shot up from the couch and in two giant steps she reached Zach and wrapped him in a firm hug.

"Thank you Zach. That will mean so much to Booth."

Zach stiffened at his mentor's sudden display of affection and attempted an awkward pat on the back just as she pulled away.

He smiled. "You're welcome Dr. Brennan."

Brennan blushed slightly at her emotional outburst and sniffed as Zach quickly exited her office.

"I have to call Booth." She turned around to grin at Angela and watched the artist do a perfect impression of her by launching off the couch and slamming into her with a hug.

"I was afraid you'd be angry with him, and I didn't think Cam would agree either."

Brennan just shrugged, she didn't know why it didn't bother her what Zach had done…it just didn't.

"Booth will appreciate it…it will be good for their 'male bonding'." She explained, with proper air quotes in place as she took her place back on the couch.

Angela nodded and reclaimed her space as well.

"How has he been? Booth I mean."

Brennan hesitated and sighed at the ground, twirling a pen in her fingers.

"Surprisingly well actually. Aside from a touch of insomnia, he's handling it quite…well. One might even describe it as rational." She said, clearly pleased.

Angela made a low whistle and shook her head. "Worse than I thought."

"Worse than you thought? But I just said he's fine."

"Bren! He just lost his father, who was murdered. Rational is the last thing he should be. Let me guess, he found out and he threw himself into his work. A brief violent outburst at the station, which would have been entirely sexy under other circumstances by the way, and he throws himself _back_ into his work. No chance for a breather, no chance to soak in what's happening."

Brennan bit her lip. She knew he'd been working a lot…she just hadn't thought it was necessarily a bad thing. It was what she did after all…

"But he really does seem okay Ange." Brennan's voice was considerably less confident than before.

"Of course he does Sweetie. He's going to put on that tough guy front as long as he can. He's going to pretend everything is okay and you have nothing to worry about but Bren…don't believe him."

"Why?" _I can trust Booth._

"Because, Sweetie, at some point that tough guy front is going to fall to pieces and he's going to need you to be there to hold him together." Angela found herself choking on her words, almost too painful to say.

She hated the thought of their strong FBI agent breaking down…but she knew it was unavoidable. As long as he was with Brennan, though, everything would be okay.

Brennan nodded slowly, taking in Angela's words. The thought that they might be true made her stomach flip-flop. She hoped she was strong enough to be the glue that held Booth together…she didn't want to let him down.

Angela saw the thoughtful look on Brennan's face and decided to leave her to her thoughts.

"I'll let you call Booth now." She patted Brennan's knee and slowly slipped her feet out from under her and into her ballerina flats before she rose from the couch.

Brennan nodded mutely and pulled out her phone, permanently abandoning that pesky report.

**ah yes, we all need some girl time every once in a while. I'm in a mood so I'll prolly post the next chap today. **


	17. Saying 'Goodbye'

**Oh wow, do i spoil you guys or what? Two chaps in one day?? I must be going berzerk. I like that word. Berzerk. Berrrrzerk. BerZerk. Ber...**

**

* * *

**_1995_

_The car ride was painfully quiet as they drove toward the army base. The rain pelted softly on the windshield outside and Seeley leaned his forehead against the passenger side window._

_Sam and his son had had a huge fight the night before about a subject so stupid nether of them could remember what it was and now, both were dreading the moment they would have to say 'goodbye'._

_"You're mother will miss you son."_

_Seeley turned at the sound of his father's voice and tugged absently at his green camouflage jacket._

_"You're brother too, although he'll never admit it."_

_Sam's knuckles were turning white with the force he gripped the steering wheel. It was one thing to deliver messages for other people…communicating his own fears about where his son was going was another._

_"Tell them I love them." Booth muttered, the words, bringing a dull pain back to his belly, reminding him he was already homesick._

_When they pulled up to the base, Sam knew he wouldn't be able to go inside with his son so instead when Seeley exited the car, so did he. Sam met his son at the front of the '89 Camero, their shadows creating long legged voids in the glow from the headlights._

_Seeley awkwardly stuck his hand out, ignoring along with his father, their hair that was getting plastered to their heads, and their soaking wet clothing._

_Sam looked at the outstretched hand and then at his son. His son who seemingly overnight had turned into a man, and was now off to fight for his country. He felt himself tearing up and was glad for the rain that already made his cheeks look wet._

_He brushed passed Seeley's hand and pulled him in for a rough hug._

_"I am so proud of you son." He whispered roughly, "You just be careful, you hear? Come back to us."_

_Booth nodded._

_"I love you Seeley. Don't you forget it."_

_He smiled reassuringly at his father._

_"I won't Dad. Never."

* * *

_

"Thank you for coming Bones." Booth smoothed the lapels on his black suit once more, although they weren't the least bit ruffled. He just couldn't seem to stop fidgeting.

Brennan stopped him from walking further on the well maintained grass and ceremoniously straightened his already perfectly fixed tie. She was having a hard time keeping still as well.

"There's no place I'd rather be than here with you Booth. I hope you know that." She looked up at him, hands resting on his chest.

Booth smiled slightly and leaned forward to kiss her forehead.

"Yeah, I know that."

As they rejoined the small procession of people heading for the funeral, he instinctively reached for her hand and laced their fingers. A gesture he'd fallen into the habit of over the past few days, a comfort he couldn't see himself doing without any time soon.

All through the service Booth's eyes remained fixed on the ground in front of his feet, trying to simultaneously take in and ignore what the priest was saying. He didn't know why…but he just didn't feel ready.

In some ways just being there made him want to just break down and cry right there…but for some reason he didn't seem able to do so.

He'd been out of the house for several years already, but he still didn't feel ready to say 'goodbye' to his father. Not when he wasn't ever going to be able to say 'hello' again.

The priest invited the attendants to come forward and pay their last respects. Booth glanced at Brennan, looking for permission…or maybe assurance from her.

Brennan saw the hesitance in his eyes and leaned toward him, wanting desperately to kiss him but unsure as to whether or not it was appropriate.

"Go." She whispered to him, "I'll be here."

He squeezed her hand in his and slowly followed Jared and his mother to the casket. He was followed by his grandmother and several of his aunts and uncles and Brennan got a chance to marvel at how well she seemed to fit into this little clan. She only felt a little bit out of place, mostly right at home. She wished she could get to know the Booths better under different circumstances.

Brennan watched carefully as Booth lingered near the casket, mumbling something to the dark mahogany box. A small smile appeared and left his lips quickly and he was returning to the outer circle, where he took Brennan's hand and waited.

"What did you say? I mean…you obviously don't have to tell me." Brennan whispered a few minutes later when most of the people had paid their respects.

Booth glanced at her, before replying, "That I loved him and that I'd miss him. I, promised to find out who did this to him…and, uh…that I'm sorry, you know, if I ever disappointed him."

Brennan squeezed his hand and moved, forcing him to look at her.

"Booth, if there is such a thing as an afterlife…I think your father is there, and he is _very_ proud of the man you have become." She spoke with the same certainty and intensity she used when delivering findings about her bones. She believed what she was saying with her whole being.

Booth smiled for the first time and Brennan could no longer keep himself from him. She leaned toward him on her tippy-toes and kissed him gently. Booth responded, pressing his lips against hers and closing his eyes, she still made him lose himself every time. Brennan broke the kiss before it got heated however…making out in a cemetery really just sounded strange.

She furrowed her brows when she noticed Booth's family loading into stretch limousine.

"Where are they going?"

Booth glanced to where she was staring.

"To my parent's house. People will be coming by to talk and bring food. I asked not to ride with them."

Brennan frowned thoughtfully for a moment

"Are you sure you're up to that Booth?"

Booth reached up and pushed an unruly auburn lock behind her ear.

"What do you mean Bones…I think I'm done with the hard part."

"Well," She glanced at the casket and back at Booth, "It's just that funerals aren't really done well in our culrture. The family of the recently deceased is expected to wear a happy face with other members of family and friends who come to offer condolences when it would really be much more appropriate to follow the pattern left by ancient civilizations of allowing mourners to greive in privacy while..."

Booth quieted her with a finger on her lips. Her voice was starting to rise and he didn't want other attendents to be upset. Then he moved it so he could lift her chin to face him.

"Thanks Bones…and I kind of agree. But," He gesture toward his mother, her shoulders still shaking with sobs as she entered the limo, "they need me. In spite of everything they need me. And as much as I'd like to go home and curl up with you…here is where I need to be."

Brennan nodded, finally understanding his reasoning. He couldn't bring himself to leave those he loved. She smiled at the reassurance that gave her.

Booth felt her hand squeeze his and he smiled slightly, she'd probably never know the reassurance that gave him.

**There ya go, hope you enjoyed the bit o BB. I think one of my fave flashbacks is coming up so I will probably update tomorrow after work.**


	18. Those that love him, never leave

**Hello everybody how the heck are ya? Here's the next chap, and I got a ton of wonderful reviews for chap. 17 so I've decided to post chap. 18 & 19 tonight. But 19 is a biggie (important and all that) so I'm gonna let it stew for a while before I post again. lol. I'm evil.**

**

* * *

**_1986_

_Seeley stared at the wrinkled paper in his hands and walked slowly down the street. School had just let out but he was no rush to get home, and he was holding the reason._

_His last Chemistry test stared mockingly up at him and he scowled. The very same chemistry test his parents had to sign. The one with the big red 'D' written in the top right corner._

_"Seeley man, don't sweat it alright?" Jacob clapped his friend on the back and grinned, "Summer school won't be so bad."_

_Seeley glared at him, quickly folding the paper and slipping it into his back pocket._

_"I ain't going to summer school." He said simply, flipping his hair out of his eyes and jamming his hands in the pockets of his jeans._

_Charlie snickered on the other side of him._

_"Man, you're mom said if you got one more bad grade, you were going to summer school. What? She change her mind?" Charlie raised an eyebrow, knowing how unlikely that was. Caroline Booth, unlike most women, hardly ever changed her mind. What she said was law, a stubborn trait she happened to share with her youngest._

_"I said I ain't going."_

_"Fine man, we believe you, but how you gonna manage that?" Troy walked with one foot on the curb, one foot on the street, bobbing up and down with each step. He exchanged skeptical glances with Charlie and Jacob while they waited for Seeley to continue._

This outta be good.

_Seeley kicked a tin can with the toe of his worn out sneaker._

_"I'm gonna get help."_

_"Help from who?"_

_Seeley hesitated and mumbled, "Chastity Greene."_

_"CHASTITY GREENE?!?" The boys exploded with laughter and Seeley quickened his pace, his cheeks getting hot._

_"Dude wait up wait up." Jacob grabbed him by the shoulder and turned him around._

_"What are you thinking? She's a Science Nerd! Do you know what hanging out with her will do for your deal?" Jacob could hardly get the words out he was laughing so hard._

_Seeley had had enough._

_"She is NOT a Science Nerd. I mean…she is, but there's nothing wrong with that. So she's good at what she does and she likes it, so what? Just because she's not some airhead bimbo like most girls doesn't make her less than human! I don't want to go to summer school and Chastity can make sure that I don't. So, just lay off okay?"_

_Charlie, Troy and Jacob stared in shock as Seeley turned on his heel and walked inside his building._

_"Since when is he an advocate for the Geek Squad?"

* * *

_

Brennan wandered through the crowded house searching for her lost man. They'd arrived at his parent's…mother's house just over two hours ago. A while back someone said they needed more ice, which Booth volunteered to go get it.

He justified this for Bones by saying he needed some air. Looking around the crowded house, Brennan didn't blame him.

It was crammed full of friends and family she'd seen at the funeral. Smells of warm food and the sound of solemn hushed voices mingled in the air and made her shudder.

She glanced at her watch, he'd been gone for nearly an hour.

Moving to a secluded corner of the kitchen, Brennan pulled out her cell phone.

Three rings and then, "You've reached the voicemail box of Special Agent Seeley Booth, I'm not available to answer right now please leave a…"

She shut her phone and cursed under her breath. "Where is he?"

"Where is who Dr. Brennan?"

Brennan turned around to find Alice Monroe looking up at her. She wore a simple black dress and a black lace shawl, her white hair pulled back in a neat bun, very unlike the overly casual look she'd worn the first time Brennan met her. Alice also held what looked like a take out bag from her restaurant.

"Booth." Brennan sighed and ran a hand through her hair as she glanced into the living room where a crowd of people had gathered around Jared and his mother.

"He left to get some ice an hour ago and hasn't come back. I'm worried about him."

Alice studied the young woman carefully, her distraught tone was obvious and she felt pity for her. Having met Seeley just after he lost his friend Jacob, she knew how her young friend dealt with loss. She did not envy the task Dr. Brennan had ahead of her.

"I'm sure he'll turn up Sweetie." Alice laid a comforting hand on Brennan's arm. The action, coupled with her term of endearment, left Brennan wishing for a friend who'd stayed behind in DC.

She nodded slowly. "I know but he won't answer his cell and…it's just not like him to be away from…me. Not this long." She shook her head, why was she worrying like this? He was a grown man. He was fine.

_He is not fine. That's why I'm worried._

"Did you say you're looking for Seeley?"

Both women turned and saw a handsome young man who looked to be around Booth's age, approaching slowly. Brennan recognized him as someone Booth had spoken to earlier. He was tall and slim, blonde hair slicked black and a stark contrast to his black suit, shirt and tie.

"Yes. And you are?" Brennan stuck out her hand, which the man shook.

"Charlie. Charlie Phillips. I'm an old friend of Seeley's."

Brennan furrowed her brow and studied his face. The long scar running from the tip of his right eyebrow, across his forehead before disappearing into his hair brought back a whisper of a memory of her conversation with Booth at the park.

"Charlie from the car accident?"

The man winced and nodded, making Brennan kick herself, yet again, for her tactlessness.

Alice saved her from another embarrassing comment.

"Yes, we're looking for Seeley. He seems to have disappeared during an ice excursion."

The way she said it made Brennan think this did not surprise her much. Charlie nodded with a similar knowing expression.

"I think I may know where to find him."

"Where?" Brennan asked eagerly.

"There's a bar on South Street. Lickety Split, we used to like it. He might be there."

_Lickety Split? That does not sound sanitary._

"On South Street?" Brennan furrowed her brow, trying to decide if that sounded familiar. Seemed as though it was, she and Booth had passed a group of people talking about doing something called 'bar hopping', whatever that is, on South Street the last time they were in town.

Upon seeing her puzzled expression Charlie tilted his head. "Yeah, over Pomodoro's, a pizza place…you have no idea what I'm talking about do you?"

Brennan shook her head.

"Okay, well I can take you if you'd like."

Brennan glanced at her phone and then back at Charlie.

"Yes, that would be great. Thanks."

She turned to leave and then turned abruptly back toward Alice. She glanced down at the bag of food.

"Booth's not going to want to, but he needs to eat something. We're staying at a hotel and I don't really think I should leave him alone to go and get food…do you think we could…"

Immediately Alice held out the bag. "Philly Cheese Steak, extra onions. Just the way he likes it."

Brennan took the bag and smiled thankfully before following Charlie outside.

---------------------------

"So you came back for the funeral?" Brennan asked as she watched the bright lights of South Street whizzing by her window. The silence had become oppressive and she suppressed the urge to comment on the diverse mix of people populating the street. A very anthropologically interseting fact.

There would be one group of black clad teenagers with tattoos and painful looking piercing and a moment later they might pass a nicely dressed middle-aged couple who looked like they were out for a night on the town.

The irony of it all made her want to smile.

"No coming back involved. I live about an hour away in York, Pennsylvania. I got a factory job. Nothing fancy, but it suits me."

Brennan nodded and wished they could get to where they were going already. She hated this. This being away from Booth and being sure he needed her.

_Or maybe I should have stayed. Maybe he needs some time alone…No. If he wanted some time alone he could have just told me…Maybe I'm smothering him…I should have waited._

"We should go back." She blurted out.

Charlie looked at her. "Why?"

"I don't know…what if he doesn't want me there?" Brennan bit her lip and fingered her chunky turquoise necklace absently.

Charlie frowned.

"No. I think you're wrong."

"Excuse me?" She definitely wasn't used to hearing those words. At least, not when they were directed toward her.

"Well, I saw you guys at the funeral. He…" Charlie sighed as he pulled into a parking spot on the street.

"It's hard for Seeley to admit he needs people. For as long as I can remember he's always had to be the tough one. The strong one. But I can tell…when he's with you…it's like," He shook his head and stared at the steering wheel, searching for the right words.

"It's like he doesn't see anything but you. He stands a little straighter, he smiles kind of like he knows what you're thinking. It's like he draws his strength from you."

Charlie looked over at Brennan who stared at him with wide eyes.

"And you have to understand if I hadn't seen what I had, you wouldn't be here right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, me and the boys, we're really protective of each other. Especially Seeley. Ever since Jacob died…he hasn't been the same. But when he's with you…sometimes I can see a little bit of the old Seeley. I guess…I like that about you." He smiled at her and reached for the door.

"So how about we go rescue him from himself, huh?"

Brennan nodded and followed Charlie to the small building across the street with the lit up sign that read, Pomodoro's. Charlie led her to another room above the restaurant where a small group of people had gathered. It was dimly lit and smelled of beer and pizza. She immediately spotted Booth's hunched back at the bar.

"You know what, I think I'll just head out. You take care of him okay?" Charlie told her. Brennan nodded and he disappeared back down the stairs.

After a few moments she cautiously went over to the bar, settling on a seat beside Booth. He didn't look up.

"Not quite Wong Fu's, but close." She said, glancing around the bar. She liked the quiet atmosphere, it was obviously a place overlooked by tourists.

Booth glanced at her, slightly confused to find she'd suddenly materialized beside him.

Brennan shrugged, reading his mind.

"Charlie found me at the party after I called you…several times. He said he might know where you were. He was right."

Booth nodded, pleased and surprised at how comfortable it was to have her there, somewhere he usually went to be alone. For some reason he didn't mind that she'd shown up, in fact he was glad.

"Sorry I didn't pick up."

"It's okay. I just wondered where you were."

Booth nodded again, the thought that the ice he'd bought was probably a large cold puddle in his backseat by this point didn't cross his mind.

"You want a beer?"

"No, I'll just have some of yours." She smiled and reached for the bottle in front of him, taking a long sip.

Booth rolled his eyes.

"What's mine is yours Sweet Cheeks."

Brennan spat out the beer all over the counter and turned deep shade of red at the look the bartender gave her.

"Booth!" She hissed, grabbing some napkins to help clean up the mess. "Look what you made me do."

Booth just laughed and made a half-hearted attempt at helping to clean it up.

"Darn. I was really hoping you could make it go through your nose."

Brennan sat back down on her stool avoiding the bartender's gaze and glaring at Booth.

"I've done that before. Not with beer, but Coke. Russ told me a joke and I wasn't ready for it. I can tell you it's not at all a pleasant experience."

Booth shook his head, still smiling, and took back his beer, sipping it thoughtfully.

They remained silent for a few more moments. Booth lost in his own world, Brennan trying to figure out how to get him out of it and if she should.

"You know what question I hate?" She asked finally.

"No. What?"

"'Are you okay?' It's usually asked in the worst possible context, when you already know the answer to the question. If you already know the answer…why ask?"

Booth looked at her, she was staring at the counter, spinning a beer nut with one of her long, slender fingers.

Finally she looked up at him, something like shyness written on her face.

"So?"

"So what?" Booth furrowed his brows.

"So…are you? Are you okay?"

Booth tilted his head to the side with a lopsided grin.

"I thought you didn't like when people asked that question."

"I don't. Not when they already know the answer. But I don't know the answer. To me, you're acting mostly like yourself. But when I look at you…I can see you're different. I can see there is a pain there you won't let show. Angela says the way you're acting is…a front, I believe was the word she used, and that it won't last." She contemplated the counter again. "It's just that you're acting a lot more…normal, than I would expect of someone who…"

"Who's father was murdered two weeks ago?" He finished darkly, swirling the liquid in his bottle.

_Believe me Temperance, it's taking all my self control to keep myself from driving my fist through a brick wall. I'm angry. Not sad. Well, I am sad…just not as sad as I think I should be. Wow. Gordon Gordon would have a field day if he were here right now._

"Essentially." She looked over at him and noted, not for the first time, dark circles under his eyes and the way his jaw muscles kept clenching and unclenching under his skin.

Brennan reached for his hand.

"I'm worried about you Seeley." She said quietly. Booth looked at her and squeezed her hand.

"Thanks."

He was spellbound in her concerned, blue-eyed gaze for a few seconds, before standing abruptly and throwing a few bills on the counter.

"Let's get out of here."

She nodded and leaned into him as he draped his arm across her shoulders.

Back outside Booth pointed out his SUV and they meandered toward it. He heard Brennan laugh softly beside him.

"What?"

"Sweet Cheeks Booth?" She looked up at him, smiling and he did the same.

"What? I think it's kind of cute."

"Cute? More like nauseating. If you ever call me that again I'll break the lateral epicondyle of your humerus." She jabbed him playfully in the ribs.

This time Booth laughed out loud.

"Bones, tough talk is not nearly as effective when you use scientific terms." He quickly placed a kiss on the top of her hair. "It is cute though."

"I am not cute."

"Fine. Adorable."

"Booth! Intelligent, strong, confident, rational…these are things I am. Cute and adorable are not. Puppies are cute and adorable. Not forensic anthropologists."

Booth held up his hands in surrender.

"You're right. You are all of those things…but you're cute too."

"Booth!"

He grinned and ran the rest of the way to the car, hoping not to get a demonstration of just how she would break the lateral epicondyle of his humerus.

**Phew! That was a long one...I still think I'll post more though. The next chap is my fave and my fave flashback is after that! **


	19. God, how he needs her

**This is my fave chap, heartwrenching and all that, but a good chap. Um...TISSUE WARNING!**

* * *

_1976_

_Thunder rolled over the City of Brotherly Love. A dark, ominous cloud that had remained stationed there for three days, had only just decided to let loose it's watery onslaught._

_It was nearing 2 am when the first clap of thunder rang out, and the entire Booth household had been asleep for several hours already._

_And they all continued to sleep peacefully after the rain started. All that is, except the youngest Booth, who was such a light sleeper. Seeley had begun to stir when the first heavy raindrops hit his bedroom window._

_When that clap of thunder, like a thousand gunshots being fired at once, shook his bedroom and everything in it, Seeley Booth sat straight up and gasped. He was disoriented for a moment, trying to decide if he'd imagined the sound or not, but the strike of bright lightning that lit his room seconds later told him he hadn't._

_His four-year-old heart began to race and he clutched his Pooh Bear to his chest, biting his bottom lip to keep it from trembling._

_He wanted to be a big boy and stay in his own room and he'd almost succeeded in convincing himself to fall back to sleep with another clap of thunder hit, nearly making his heart slam clear out of his chest._

_Without a moment's hesitation Seeley jumped off his bed, landing several feet from the edge to avoid any monsters that might be hiding underneath, and bolted for his parents' room._

_His small hands pushed the door open with ease and he launched himself onto the big King Size bed just as the lightning flashed, startling him as he scurried under the covers._

_Sam detected another presence in the bed and rolled over to find a trembling lump hidden under the covers near his wife._

_"Seeley?" He asked groggily. Lifting the blankets he saw his son staring at him, fear the only thing prevalent in those wide brown eyes._

_"You okay son?"_

_"The thudnerstowm scay'ed me." Seeley squeaked, his voice tight with tears he thought he should hold back._

_"Oh," Sam cooed, reaching for the trembling boy, "Just c'mere Seeley. I won't let anything get you."_

_Seeley scooted over and curled up next to his father, his big arm wrapped securely around the boy's small waist._

_"You're alright now buddy." Sam brushed some of the curls off Seeley's forehead and kissed it. "Everything is going to be just fine. Okay?"_

_Seeley nodded and closed his eyes, a few tears escaped out the corners of them, but his heart slowed back down and soon sleep returned to him.

* * *

_

"No, you've got to Jack!"

"I'm sorry. I've done all I can…"

"Angela, you know Hodgins is the best. If he says he can't do it then…it can't be done."

Brennan was buttoning her lab coat as she came out of her office to check on the others when she heard Cam, Hodgins and Angela on the platform.

"But …Booth and Brennan…"

"What about us?" Brennan zipped her key card through the reader and let herself up onto the platform. The other three people were immediately silent.

Brennan frowned.

"What about us?" She repeated.

Cam remained silent, her arms crossed over her chest as she stared at the ground. Hodgins sat on the far side of a table, scowling at his microscope. Angela was the only one to meet her eyes, but she didn't like the look her friend was giving her.

"Ange?"

"I'm sorry Sweetie." Angela approached her and put her hand on her shoulder, "The skin sample from the bone was too small. They weren't able to get any DNA."

Brennan's eyes widened and she turned back to Hodgins.

"Is that true?"She knew the implication of that question was that Angela was lying…but it couldn't be true. "That's the only physical evidence we had linking anyone to the murder…including JR."

Hodgins finally looked up, defeat written in bold marker all over his face.

"I already called Director Cullen."

------------------------------------------

Booth flipped his poker chip in the air as he made his way from the elevator to his office. He'd been off the Meth Case for nearly four days but still had a mountain of paperwork leftover from cases even before that one had been assigned. For some reason he hadn't been getting much done lately.

"Booth?" He looked up to see Cullen poking his head out of his office at the end of the hall, "Will you come in here please?"

Booth furrowed his brows as he changed direction and headed toward Cullen's office. There was gentleness in his boss' tone he wasn't used to hearing. It intrigued and concerned him at the same time.

_What now?_

"Shut the door Booth." Cullen clasped his hands in front of him and settled behind his desk, receiving a confused expression from the agent, who did what he said anyway.

"What is it sir?"

"Take a seat Booth."

Booth did.

"Sir?"

Cullen sat back and sighed, looked over his young agent with a fatherly concern.

"Seeley," Booth stiffened, his boss _never_ called him by his first name, "I've got some bad news."

Booth's heart rate immediately quickened and he sat forward in his chair.

"What is it sir? Is it Bones? No one called me." He pulled out his phone, inspecting it for missed calls. There were none.

"No, no nothing like that."

Booth relaxed.

"I've, um, just received some…troubling news from Dr. Hodgins."

Booth frowned.

"I haven't got any cases with the squints right now. None except…" he stopped and his eyes narrowed as he began putting the jagged little pieces together in his brain.

"The Meth Case?"

Cullen just nodded, his sudden quietness made Booth uneasy.

"All due respect sir…what's going on?"

Cullen took a deep breath. "I suppose I might as well get it over with. Seeley, the squints called because…they couldn't get any DNA from the small skin sample they found lodged in the bone." Cullen watched as realization dawned on Booth's features and continued reluctantly.

"They…the officers in Philadelphia…they were forced to let the suspect go."

Booth stared at him for a moment, his mouth opened and closed several times as he tried to think of something to say.

Finally, when nothing came, he stood quickly, a heat rising in his chest was making it hard to breathe. His eyes grew dark with a primal rage Cullen involuntarily drew back from and he balled his large fists at his sides.

"Booth?"

Cullen didn't get a response as the agent turned and left his office. He walked straight through the bullpen and got in the elevator, not hearing or saying a word. And then it happened.

Somewhere between the third and fourth floors, Special Agent Seeley Booth lost it.

----------------------------------

Brennan sat at her desk, staring at her cell phone that lay expectantly on the glass surface. She'd called Booth at least eight times. She'd left messages all eight times and was now wishing he would call her back.

She was pretty sure she should go to headquarters, and would have if her car hadn't been at her apartment where she'd left it when Booth drove her to work that morning.

She was just beginning to entertain the idea of getting someone to give her a ride when Angela appeared at the door.

"Sweetie?"

"He should have called me by now. It' been almost two hours. They would have told him by now right?" Brennan looked up, feeling helpless and hating it. What was she supposed to do now?

"I don't know Sweetie. Maybe. I don't know." Angela crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe. She thought it strange they hadn't received any communication from the FBI also. Even if Booth didn't call, it seemed likely that someone should have.

"Have you tried calling him?"

Brennan almost smiled. "Yes, at least eight times. I've been quite annoying."

Angela smiled sadly and they stood in silence for a few moments, willing Brennan's cell to ring.

Just then a presence at Angela's side made her jump.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you baby."

Angela smiled at Hodgins to let him know it was okay and he turned toward Brennan.

"Dr. Brennan, I wanted to say I'm sorry. I know I've let you and Booth down and I…"

"Don't apologize Jack. The evidence is what it is. Zack's looking over the x-rays and bone casts now attempting to identify the murder weapon. If there is something else, he'll find it there."

Hodgins nodded and Angela slipped him her hand, neither of them took much comfort in her words. They still felt they'd let down a friend.

Suddenly Brennan's cell jumped to life and she snatched it off her desk.

"Brennan."

"Dr. Brennan? This is Special Agent Andrew Clarke. We've got a bit of a…problem down here at HQ."

Brennan's eyes widened, already rising from her desk to gather her things.

"What is it? Is it Booth?"

"Yes ma'am. Could you come down here? We um…we can't get him to stop."

Angela watched Brennan as she listened to the person on the other line. The mixture of concern and confusion on her face and the way she was frantically searching for her purse, told her that something had happened with Booth. Angela tightened her grip on Hodgins and exchanged a worried glance with him as they moved so she could rush out of her office.

"I'll be there in ten minutes." Brennan flipped her phone shut and looked at Angela.

"Ange I need to get to HQ can I borrow your keys?"

Angela reached into her lab coat pocket.

"Sure Sweetie, do you want me to drive you?"

"No thanks. I can drive faster if I'm not worried about you being in the car with me."

And with that, she was gone.

"Where is she going?" Hodgins stared bewildered after the scientist, before turning at the sound of Angela's distressed voice beside him.

"My guess? She's got to go be his glue."

----------------------------------------

Brennan threw open the door to the basement of the FBI headquarters building and rushed down a dark, depressing hallway. The ground was simple gray concrete, the walls cinder blocks painted white and overhead were flickering fluorescent lights.

Although she didn't really register any these details. All she wanted was to find the gym.

Brennan turned around the corner and assumed by the crowd of a dozen or more agents, that she'd found the right place.

"Excuse me." She pushed her way through the crowd of tall, broad shouldered men, and found her way to the front.

"Agent Clarke?"

An older man with thinning dark hair and a rumpled suit that stood near the door, turned and looked at her.

"Dr. Brennan." He motioned for her to move closer and she did, peeking through one of the windows looking out into the gym.

Inside the gym was all but deserted. None of the treadmills or bikes were occupied, although a few agents in t-shirts and gym shorts stood near them, staring in awe at the far wall. She let her gaze follow theirs, across the empty work out mat and weight training equipment, to the punching bags.

There she saw the sole moving body in the room. Still dressed in his suit pants, shoes and dress shirt, Booth stood at the third to last body bag, punching it repeatedly with clenched fists. Each strike stronger and more determined than the last. She saw his jacket and tie in a crumpled heap beside him and when she squinted through the window she could just barely make out blood spatter on the white wall behind the bag and dripping down the bag itself.

Brennan turned to Clarke.

"How long has he been like this?"

"We're not sure. Somebody said they last saw him upstairs about two hours ago, but we've only been watching him down here for the last half hour. He might have been here the whole time. Tried stoppin' him and he ended up giving two of the other's a black eye, then went right back to hitting the bag. He sure don't show no signs of quittin' any time soon." Clarke shook his head, amazed at the agent's stamina.

"That's because he doesn't know what he's doing." Brennan mumbled angrily, dropping her bag and turning to face the other agents.

"Everybody out. Now." When no one moved she placed her hands on her hips and took a step forward.

"Are you all deaf? I said MOVE!"

The other agents exchanged glances. Brennan had earned herself a reputation in the bureau. Everyone knew why she wasn't allowed to have a gun, and everyone knew she probably wouldn't need it if she decided to inflict bodily harm upon one of them. After a moments hesitation they all began to move away down the hall.

Brennan watched them go, and once she was satisfied she and Booth were alone, she went inside the work out area.

In the silence of the gym Booth's grunts of pain and effort echoed off the walls along with the constant muffled thump noise his fists made each time they connected with the bag.

Brennan knew there was no point in trying to get him to stop. Not yet. She bit her lip and made her way around to the other side of the bag, placing herself between it and the wall. Never taking her eyes off Booth, she grabbed the bag and held it steady, allowing him to put more force into each punch.

She gasped when she noticed his eyes were red and puffy, tear tracks shiny on his cheeks. Each time he pulled back one of his bloody hands she would try and get a better view of them. It didn't look as though he'd broken anything, but he'd pretty much stripped them of the skin.

After a few minutes, she couldn't take any more, he was going to hurt himself if he didn't stop soon.

"Booth."

No response.

"Booth please!" She begged, tears threatening her own eyes. Booth landed one last punch, so hard it shook Brennan's entire body, then let his hands drop to his sides and stared blankly into space.

"He's gone."

The whisper was so soft Brennan almost thought she'd imagined it. But when Booth looked up at her, brown eyes so tortured and blood shot she thought they'd knock her over, she knew she hadn't.

"He's gone Bones. He's actually gone."

Brennan could only nod, the shock in his voice tore at her heart. It was as if he was hearing it for the very first time.

Booth felt wetness on his cheeks but couldn't muster the strength from his arms even to raise a hand and wipe them. He had to look down just to make sure they were still attached, they felt like dead weight.

"I don't know what to do."

Brennan watched, horrified, as he sank to his knees and she knelt in front of him, steadying his swaying form with her hands on his biceps.

"I don't know what to do. What do I do? He's gone Bones, he's never coming back." Suddenly he was finding it hard to breath, air would only come in short gasps and his head throbbed against itself.

"They let that sonofabitch go…he's out. I promised Bones. I promised! He's gone." Booth felt his chest constrict around his lungs and the short breaths were no longer enough. He clutched his chest, smearing blood all over his white shirt, panic washing over him when he realized he couldn't breathe.

"Booth?" Brennan frowned at him, one moment he'd been crying, the next there was no noise at all coming from him. His eyes widened and he brought his hands to his chest. She suddenly realized what was happening.

"…can't…breathe…" He gasped, tears rolling out of the corners of his eyes as he pleaded with her for help. God, he needed her help.

Brennan scooted closer to him so she was nearly nose to nose, both of them on their knees, and she placed a hand over his heart, the other steadying him on his shoulder.

"Booth, you're having a panic attack." She stated as calmly as she could. "I need you to breathe."

He merely nodded, no breath coming into his lungs.

"Breathe, Booth. C'mon, you can do it." Fear began to seep into her voice when she still did not feel him take a breath. He was turning red with the effort to do so, but with no success.

She quickly reached down with her left hand and pried one of his off his chest and pressed it to the flesh over her heart, his other hand still holding her right firmly over his own.

"Like this Booth. C'mon, look at me." Brennan took an exaggeratedly deep breath and locked her eyes on his.

He gasped and she felt a small smile on her lips.

"That's right. Now again." She took a deep breath and he managed another gasp, savoring every precious air molecule entering his body.

"Again." One more deep breath, and this time he did the same, almost matching hers. She closed her eyes with relief and pressed her forehead against his.

"Very good. Again, inhale…" Their chests rose, nearly touching, "…exhale." They fell again.

Booth sensed the panic die along with the throbbing in his head and he could feel the air flowing in and out of his lungs freely.

Without warning he pulled his hands free of Brennan's and wraped them around her shoulders, pulling her to him and burying his face in her hair.

Brennan tightened her arms around his back as his body shook again and he sobbed. She could hear the pain with each tear that fell onto her neck and hardly noticed her own tears soaking his shoulder.

Her was breaking inside her chest, for she knew the pain he was enduring, and knew there was no way for her to ease it with words. Even if there was, she wouldn't have been able to think of them in that moment.

So instead she settled for entwining herself with him, there on the FBI gym floor, allowing his tears to wet her hair and rocking slowly back and forth, hoping she is enough glue to keep this broken man in one piece.

**Okay, even I teared up with that one. You? **


	20. Breathe 2am

**And here is my favorite flashback, no real interesting reason except...I like the feel of it. I hope you get my meaning...cuz I just think I sound nuts.**

**Disclaimer: They were mine in a past life.**

**

* * *

**_1994_

_"What do they mean?" Rebecca's long flowing blonde hair was splayed across the pillow, the sheet pulled up to her armpits in order to cover her naked body._

_Her fingers delicately traced the ink on Seeley's wrists. He used one arm to prop himself up beside her, the other laid across her stomach to give her easy access._

_"Soul and destiny." Seeley said simply, smiling at her in orange glow of sunset. He loved the sight of her in his bed._

_Rebecca frowned slightly, forming that cute little crease between her finely trimmed eyebrows. Booth leaned down and kissed it._

_"Why? Why soul and destiny?" She continued, as if he'd done nothing at all._

_Booth sighed, remembering the drunken night he'd spent out with the boys in the Gulf, their last night in town before going on a long mission across enemy lines._

_"A bunch of us got together and were going to go out drinking before we were deployed for a long mission in the dessert." He began, already feeling her tense beside him._

Why does she ask when she doesn't want to know the answer?

_"Um…we were close, ya know? We knew there was a chance not all of us would make it back. So we wanted to unite ourselves…kind of…we felt like brothers already…we wanted something permanent to remind us of it."_

_Her troubled gaze became too much and he shifted to look past her and out the window at the twinkling Christmas lights across the street._

_"Soul because we'd lost one of our own on the last mission and were all feeling mortality like it was sitting in the next chair. Destiny because…even though sometimes we wished we could have been anywhere else…anyone else…we knew if we were we would have never known each other. Those guys are some of my best friends. I guess we were thinking it was kind of like destiny brought us together. Like it was meant to be."_

_Seeley shrugged the shoulder not propping him up and looked back down at Rebecca._

_She pulled the covers up tighter around her and blinked at him, unsure of how to process the things he told her about his other life as a soldier. A life she was not a part of and one she didn't really understand. She wondered if she ever would._

_"Anyway…" He found her silence uncomfortable and decided an encore of what they'd just done was not the best move._

_"You should get some sleep. Tomorrow is my last day." He leaned over and kissed her on the lips, disappointed to find her pulling away before he was ready._

_"Goodnight Seeley."_

_He sighed. "Yeah, you too."_

_Seeley rolled over and fell asleep facing the wall.

* * *

_

Brennan felt movement beside her and opened her eyes.

"Booth?" She started to sit up in the darkness, her eyes still not fully open.

Booth and Brennan headed back to his place from the FBI building after he'd calmed down a little. They were asleep even before the sun went down.

She tugged at her shirt to get it to turn the right way and made a mental note never to sleep in her work clothes. The only thing she'd taken off was the sweater Booth had gotten blood on.

"Shhh…Bones, go back to sleep."

Brennan felt the weight on the bed shift and his warm breath on her face.

"But…" Her words stopped when he placed a gentle kiss on her lips and she relaxed under it, her head floating back down to the pillow.

Booth cringed when he heard her begin to stir and then call his name. He hadn't meant to wake her. He just needed to get out for a while, get some air. He told her to go back to sleep and, knowing she would protest, leaned over to kiss her gently.

He felt her relax beneath him and fall back onto the bed, but waited a moment before releasing her lips. Pulling back tentatively he smiled when she did not react, obviously having gone back to sleep.

With eyes that were already adjusted to the darkness, he watched her smile in her sleep. Kissing her quickly on the forehead, he rose silently and went down the hall to the front room to put on his shoes.

"Booth?" Brennan felt his warmth leave and opened her eyes to goet up from the bed, following the sound of clothing rustling out into the kitchen. She was a much lighter sleeper now than she used to be, hyper sensative to Booth's presence or lack thereof in the bed. It wasn't odd for him to get up in the middle of the night lately, but it still worried her.

She found him at the door, putting on running shoes.

"Booth? It's 2 am. Where are you going?" She leaned against the wall in the hallway and folded her arms, concern etched into her features.

Booth finished tying his shoe and moved to do the other.

"Don't look so worried Bones. I'm just going for a run. I need to clear my head, that's all." He pulled on a sweatshirt, wincing when the fabric touched his recently bandaged hands.

"I reiterate. It's 2 am Booth."

The mixture of annoyance and concern in her voice startled him and he looked at her.

She appeared small in her black slacks and shirt, her arms folded firmly in front of her as she stared at him.

"Bones I'm…"

"Don't say you're fine." She interrupted sharply, casting her eyes to the floor.

Booth frowned and approached her slowly, the bright light from the Moon the only thing guiding his steps. Brennan steadily avoided his gaze and hugged herself tighter as she felt him approach.

He noticed the way she was avoiding his eyes and lifted one finger to her chin.

She felt her heart beating against her ribs and finally allowed her face to be tilted up toward his, swallowing hard as tears stung at her eyes.

Booth furrowed his brows.

"Babe, what's wrong?" He whispered gently. Brennan sighed and blinked hard, a few silent tears escaping her glassy blue eyes.

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came.

_What's wrong? It's two am, I'm tired. It's warm in here and yet I can't stop shivering. You're not sleeping, I'm worried about you. You broke down in my arms today and it scared me. I don't have any clean clothes here, I don't know what I'll wear tomorrow. I've never seen you like you were today, I wonder if I'm any help to you at all. I look at you, I see the pain in your eyes and I feel like my heart is breaking over and over…I love you, and I don't know how to tell you. That's what's wrong._

She wanted to say all of that, knew she probably should.

But he was staring at her with those eyes, touching her with those hands and standing so near she could smell him. She opened her mouth, but the words caught in her throat, and she swallowed them. Hard.

"Nothing Booth."

"Bones…"

"Just go for your run. I'll be here when you get back." She promised, giving him a weak smile and taking a few deep breaths in hopes of regaining her control.

Booth studied her for a moment longer and wiped the tears from her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs.

"Okay." He bent his head and kissed her quickly. "I'll be right back."

He turned and went to the door, but suddenly turned back toward her. She'd wiped her face and now stood with her hands in her pockets, still watching him.

"And Babe?"

"Yes?"

"I love you."

Brennan nodded and he winked before slipping out the door.

_I know…I hope you know I love you too._

-----------------------------------------

Booth ran around and around the block. Up streets, down streets, through the park and back again.

His head was swirling with thoughts, pleas for mercy, shouts of anger and prayer. He felt like his world was crumbling. He trusted the criminal-justice system. He _was_ the criminal justice system for crying out loud.

Then why did it feel like they'd let him down? And it got him wondering, how many times had he done it?

_How many guys have I let go who were guilty and should have spent the rest of their lives rotting in prison? How many families have been torn apart knowing justice wasn't done? What if there is nothing left to look for? What if JR is gone forever?_

The thought slipped into his brain and made him stumble and fall to the ground, disturbing his bandages and ripping open the fresh wounds on his hands.

He cursed as he got back to his feet and began walking back toward his apartment, too worked up to worry about the pain coursing through his hands and arms.

_I can't let that happen. I made a promise. I have to make it good…how? How do I do that Seeley?_

He chewed his bottom lip as he pondered this, almost walking right past his apartment building.

He ascended the stairs slowly, still winded from his prolonged jog and fall. Even so, somewhere in the dark stairwell the answer hit him.

Booth knew what he had to do and that was enough to make him smile through the pain.

Now to deal with a little issue he liked to call Bones…

------------------------------------------

It had been nearly an hour and Booth still wasn't home. Brennan, of course, was too awake by the time Booth left to try and go back to sleep. Instead she moved around the apartment for a while looking for something to do.

She knew why saying those three tiny words was so hard for her. Because those three tiny words would irrevocably change her life. Yes, she loved Booth, and yes she wanted him to know it. She kind of already thought he did…the hard part was saying it.

Brennan knew that as soon as she said those three words out loud, left them floating in the open air…then that was that. Her heart was on the line. Her whole happiness would be wrapped up in him. In loving him, needing him, never losing him.

This whole situation with his father frightened her, bringing back to the surface a thought she'd been trying desperately to beat down since her epiphany in Booth's SUV so many weeks ago.

_Everyone I love, leaves._

She'd completed two circuits of aimless wandering before settling into the computer chair in Booth's office and turning it on.

_When all else fails…write._ She thought to herself with a smile. It had always worked before. Even as a child. Anytime it all became too much, too overwhelming, she'd just pull out a pen and a piece of paper and pour her heart out onto it and somehow, everything managed to come into perspective.

The computer finally booted up and she gasped wide-eyed at the picture displayed on the desktop.

Staring her right in the face was a picture she didn't even know Booth had. It was from a few months before when Booth needed to pick up Parker from t-ball practice before he dropped Brennan off at the Jeffersonian.

For some unknown reason Booth decided that day would be a good day to take billions of photos of Parker. He'd miraculously produced a disposable camera from the glove box and started chasing Parker and Brennan around the baseball field and the SUV with said camera.

Staring at her from the monitor of the computer was the only picture of all three of them together. Booth and Brennan on either side of the frame, Parker squished in the middle. Booth was giving the camera a smile she knew meant he'd been laughing only moments before, and she had her mouth hanging open, her eyes bugged out, as Parker sat up and planted a kiss on her cheek.

Brennan sat back and stared at the computer screen and read the caption underneath the photo.

**Life is in the living, every hour of everyday.**

It was profound, even for Booth, and she wondered where he'd gotten it.

Profound though it was, and decidedly philosophical, it got Brennan's mind churning.

_Life is in the living…well of course. If you weren't living you wouldn't be alive…although I don't think that's what that means. Life…what is life without love?…what is love without risk?_

Brennan reached forward slowly and turned off the monitor.

_Be logical Temperance! I_ do _love Booth. He should know that. He should_ hear _it. He deserves to hear it...but I don't know if I can. I_

She smiled softly. _At least I know one thing, I want to be with Booth. Every hour of every day._

Well maybe not **every** hour…but something close.

-------------------------------------

Booth turned the doorknob slowly, partially because it hurt to move his hands, and partially because the door squeaked and he didn't want to wake Brennan…who had hopefully gone back to bed.

"Bones?" He called quietly. Much to his chagrin the woman in question appeared around the corner, coming from his office, just seconds later.

"Bones, what are you doing up? You should be in bed."

"Yeah, well I could say the same to you." She noticed the awkward way he was holding his hands and rushed over to him. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Brennan took one of them gingerly and he visibly winced.

She pursed her lips. "C'mon."

She took his arm further up by the elbow and led him to the bathroom, thankfully receiving no complaint from the FBI agent.

Booth leaned against the wall as Brennan silently retrieved the ointment and more bandages from under the bathroom sink.

"Hold out your hands." She commanded. Booth did and she carefully and tenderly unwrapped his bandages.

He watched her eyes as they intently studied the mangled flesh of his knuckles and she lovingly cared for them.

He wondered if he could ever express to her what it meant to him just having her there. Having her near.

"What would I do without you?" He whispered.

Brennan looked up, confusion written on her face.

"Well I'm sure it would be extremely difficult and painful to do this on your own."

Booth smiled slightly as she finished wrapping the second hand.

"That's not what I mean. Not entirely." He sighed and put his newly bandaged hands on either side of her face. "You've been…absolutely wonderful through this. Especially this afternoon…"

"Booth…I was just…it was nothing."

"It was _not_ nothing. It was huge. Huge for me, huge for you. It was exactly what I needed. You were exactly what I needed." He tilted his head to meet her averted gaze. "I love you. I'd be lost without you."

Brennan swallowed hard and bit her lip.

"Seeley…I want…to say something to you…" She paused and found his brown eyes so full of hope and passion that she nearly lost it right there.

"But I can't." She said quickly, and watched his face fall.

"I want to. I really do…I've never felt this way before. And I know it's unfair to you because I wanted this, I initiated this and I'm not saying I'm backing out I just can't say the words, three tiny words…" She stopped when Booth pulled her to his chest and she wrapped her arms around him.

"Hey, I know. I know that." He kissed the top of her head, "You'll say it if and when you're ready, don't worry about it. I know."

Booth stroked her auburn locks of hair as they swayed slowly in the stark gray and blue colored bathroom. He felt wetness seeping into his shirt and he pulled back from her.

"C'mon, Babe, no more tears." He said softly.

"Stop calling me Babe." Brennan stepped away from him and wiped her face, a small smile visible on her lips.

"Why?" Booth followed her as she walked out of the bathroom and down the hall to the bedroom.

"Because terms of endearment, pet names, are ridiculous and humiliating. Where are your t-shirts?" She stated, pulling out his dresser drawers as she searched for something to wear.

"Does that mean Brenny Bear is out?" He asked playfully, reaching past her to a drawer she hadn't gotten to and pulling out an oversized red shirt that read 'Mine's Bigger Than Yours'.

"Call me Brenny Bear even one time and I'll break your arm." She smiled at the shirt and thought of their guns.

_Very appropriate._

"Ah, see there? A much better threat without the scientific mumbo-jumbo. Very intimidating." Booth pulled off his sweats and sat on the bed in his boxers, tugging off his shirt.

"Mmm-hmm."

"Listen Bon…Temperance. If you want me to stop, I will." He said in all seriousness.

She shrugged. "I just don't see why you can't just call me by my name." She took the shirt and headed for the bathroom, leaving the door cracked just a bit.

_She didn't ask me to stop. Score!_

"Well, because Brennan is too formal, Tempe is what Russ calls you and Temperance is just a mouthful."

"Hey!" Brennan poked her head out of the bathroom and frowned at him.

"What? It is, and besides, you never call me by my name." Booth grinned cheekily although she couldn't see him.

"Seeley is awkward to say."

"Then I will call you Bones…or Babe, depending on my mood."

"Fine. Then I want a nickname for you too." Brennan finished changing into his shirt and came out of the bathroom.

"Like…what?" He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

She looked thoughtful for a moment, her hands on her hips as she stared at the floor.

"Marshmallow."

"Marshmallow?! What about me is even remotely marshmallowlike?" He motioned obviously toward his rock hard abs and quirked an eyebrow.

"Well…when toasted, marshmallows are very tough and hard on the outside, but inside their warm and gooey and fluffy. Just like you. You pretend to be this tough cop…when in reality you're really just a big softie." She grinned and stuck out her chin, approaching to stand between his legs.

"How very metaphoric of you bones. I'm proud." He pulled her down onto the bed next to him and she fell, laughing.

"Why thank you Marshmallow." She reached out, ruffled his hair before scrambling to get away from him and hide under the covers, daring him to follow.

"Okay, that name…does NOT leave this bedroom."

**There, a bit of introspection and a bit of fluff. More soon, we're getting down to the wire, but I assure you there is (thanks to my friends in the Boneyard) at least one more MAJOR cliffee around the corner. te-he. **


	21. Never stopped us before

**SO glad people are still enjoying this fic, I'm certainly enjoying writing it!!**

_

* * *

_

_1979_

_"Seeley, Jared wake up." Caroline's voice floated through the apartment on silence, much like the snow falling outside._

_The youngest groaned and rolled away from the sound while Jared pulled the covers up over his head._

_When after a few minutes neither of her son's made an appearance, Caroline went to the back of the apartment and pushed open the door to their room._

_"Guys?"_

_She smiled when she saw two small lumps in two beds, the rhythmic rise and fall of the covers showing they were both alive._

_"Seeley," she tried again, approaching the beds, "Jared…it's time to get up."_

_Jared pulled the covers tighter around him and Seeley growled some sort of response Caroline wasn't sure she wanted to understand._

_She stood up straight and shrugged. Turning back to the door she said nonchalantly, "Fine. I'll just take the presents Santa left and I'll send them back."_

_There was the sudden rush of air as blankets were tossed about and two small heads of brown curls attached to two small bodies zipped past her and out the door._

_Caroline shook her head._

You two will never change.

_

* * *

_

"Okay," Brennan rolled over sleepily as the morning sun crept in the window and glared at Booth who was pulling on a pair of pants in the corner, "It is early."

Booth glanced at the alarm clock, it read 5 am.

"I know. Sorry."

Brennan shook her head and rubbed her eyes as she sat up.

"Where are we going?" She swung her legs over the edge of the bed and went to the bathroom.

"We?" Booth called through the door while rummaging through his drawers for more clothes.

"Yes. We." The sound of the toilet flushing echoed and then running water.

"What makes you think we are going somewhere?"

The door opened and Brennan stepped out.

"You had the look when you came in last night. I would have asked about it, but I was worried about your hands."

Her hair was tousled the way it was, the way she was standing there with nothing but his big shirt on, showing off her creamy white skin on up to her upper thigh, he found it hard to remember what they were talking about.

"Er…What? What look?" He approached her slowly, his hands tingling with the thought of touching her.

"The Look. The look you get when you've solved a case or made a decision. It's kind of like this mix between surprise, triumph and…arrogance. It's really quite cute." She smiled and kissed him quickly before turning to find her own clothes.

"Cute huh?" He masked the dissapointment in his voice and started down the hall toward the kitchen to make the coffee.

"Yes. Very cute Marshmallow."

Booth stopped suddenly and turned around.

"Alright. Ground rules. That name, albeit…surprisingly endearing, it cannot leave this apartment, got it." He used his long arms to motion around them, "I will not have the squints, or anyone else for that matter, thinking I am some sort of gooey delight. Not gonna happen."

He raised his eyebrows and waited for her recognition.

To his surprise, not only did he get recognition, he got something else. Something he liked.

"Bones?"

She approached slowly, one eyebrow raised in that sexy smile of hers and he backed into the wall behind him.

"I did think of a few others." She stopped just inches from him, never breaking eye contact, sexual tension abounded in the air.

"Oh-oh yeah?" Booth stammered.

Brennan nodded and used her fingers to trace along his lips with one hand, his chest with the other.

"Handsome...and Sexy."

"Really? I think I like those." Booth tried to muster some saliva into his dry mouth.

Brennan smiled.

"I thought you might, but the latter is definitely a bedroom only name."

Booth agreed quickly and bent down to capture her lips and put his arms around her to lift her off the ground. Her legs wrapped around his waist and he pushed her up against the opposite wall, kissing and sucking the flesh on her neck.

"I think I'd like to see how it sounds." He muttered, and took her back to the bedroom, her low rolling laughter singing through his heart.

-------------------------------------

**Two hours later**

"So, where are we going?" Brennan asked quietly, her fingertips dancing across the skin of his chest.

"I'm getting Déjà vu." Booth smiled and twisted a lock of her hair around his finger playfully.

"Well, you never answered before…not that I can blame you. You were quite distracted." She smiled and briefly touched her lips to his.

"Distracted? Is that what they're calling it these days?"

Brennan just shrugged and continued to look at him, waiting for an answer.

Booth sighed, "Philadelphia."

"Okay." She said almost immediately.

"Okay? Really? I expected you to argue."

"Why?" She sat up and started searching for her clothes, Booth watching appreciatively as she moved naturally around his room wearing nothing but a smile.

"It's perfectly logical. That's where the mur…um, where the scene is. That's where the suspect was last seen and until Zach gets something else from the bones, it's the only lead we have."

Booth slid from under the covers and began pulling on his pants.

"But it's not our case." He pointed out, still going about getting ready to go. He went to the closet to retrieve a duffel and began filling it.

Brennan smiled and handed him his favorite suit.

"That's never stopped us before."

------------------------------------------------

Booth and Brennan exited the SUV later that afternoon. After calling in sick to work, they'd decided to drive to Philly using Booth's truck.

Brennan looked around them, they were back at the crime scene. She found herself thankful the smell of smoke and charred flesh was gone, though Police tape still surrounded the perimeter.

There was an empty lot to the right of the scene and a condemned house to the left. Across from them small children drew on the sidewalk with colorful pieces of chalk, running back and forth between different run down houses.

_Not an adult in sight, though these children can't be much older than Parker._

Brennan frowned, not liking that the children were all seemingly unsupervised. She went o the front of the SUV to find Booth, but he was not there waiting for her.

Booth resisted the urge to drive down the road, past the house and back to DC.

_I don't want to do this. I'm not ready to do this._

But he did. He knew they needed to start questioning what information the neighbors might have, but when he put his feet to the pavement, he was drawn to the opposite side of the street.

Booth stopped short of the yellow tape and stared the crumbling walls of the house.

The last thing his father saw before he died.

_It's not fair. He didn't deserve this._ He shook his head and frowned.

The urge to hit something washed over him again. He clenched his fists and sent pain radiating up through his hands and arms. He winced.

"Are you okay?"

Booth turned to find Brennan beside him, concern like he'd never known was in her eyes. It made him smile that she worried about him the way he was always worrying for her.

"There's that question again." He said teasingly, reaching for her hand but being careful of his knuckles.

Brennan stepped closer so their shoulders were touching.

"I know. I'm sorry."

He just nodded and turned back to look at the crime scene. Brennan could feel the tension emanating from his body and she waited quietly next to him, knowing he had to come to terms with being this close to it if they were to continue.

She felt him shift his weight and turned to him only to find his lips were suddenly on top of hers. She closed her eyes and allowed him to direct the gentle kiss. After a few seconds she felt him relax and he pulled away.

"Ready?" She smiled, his cheeks were flush as he glanced around, realizing they were in a public place.

"Ready."

They turned back to the other side of the street just in time to see a group of a half dozen teenagers in dark clothes come around the corner from an alley.

**Back to Philly, gotta love it. **


	22. Fate in the hands of Strangers

**Yes the teenagers are important and no we're nowhere near done yet! Well near it...but...not...**

* * *

_1987_

_Seeley leaned against the cool white plaster and waited. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead, but he ignored them._

_His hands were shoved deep inside his pockets as he waited._

_God, he hated waiting._

_Seeley knew he should have gone to class. Calculus was not by any stretch of the imagination his best subject and he really should have been there for the review before the test tomorrow._

_But it's not like he would have been able to concentrate anyway._

_He tapped his foot and cracked his knuckles, occasionally bouncing a rubber ball he carried all the time, but he was not even aware of his fidgeting. The sound of basketballs could be heard thudding against the walls in the hallway outside the gym where Seeley stood._

_Well, had stood. Now he was pacing._

_He'd never wanted anything more in his life than to be on the football team. He hadn't gone out for a team since he quit playing the Junior league three years ago. This being his first year of high school, he'd finally decided to try out again._

_Seeley heard a door open down the hall and snapped his head toward the sound, his body tense with anticipation. Seeley's shoulders slumped as a girl walked out of the bathroom and gave him a shy smile._

_He sighed and slid down the wall to sit on the ground._

_He'd heard the coach sometimes left a few spots available on Varsity for promising freshman. Now, Seeley Booth would never be so presumptuous as to think he would be one of the privileged few to land one of those spots…but…a boy can dream, can't he?_

_The doors to the gym flew open and a slew of sweaty boys and girls rushed past him to the locker rooms and Seeley stood._

Any minute now…

_He bent his head and resumed pacing. His palms were sweaty, he couldn't believe how worked up he was over this. But how could he not be? His dad had been talking about Seeley playing high school football for as long as he could remember. Jared had played. It was only natural that Seeley should as well._

_"That you Booth?"_

_Seeley whirled around and saw a husky man approaching. He was dressed in sweatpants and a white polo shirt, a shiny silver whistle hung around his neck, swinging from side to side with every step._

_"Yeah, Coach."_

_The man scrutinized Seeley as he approached the bulletin board._

_"You been here all period?"_

_Seeley just nodded, not caring that he had just admitted to skipping class._

_"I had to know."_

_Coach paused for a moment and smiled._

_"I know you did son."_

_He turned aside and pushed a tack into the top of the paper he was holding. Banging it with his fist, Coach secured the roster to the bulletin board._

_He turned to Seeley before walking back to his office._

_"Good luck."_

_Seeley nodded and stared at the board, still too far away to pick out his name. His heart beat loud in his ears as he slowly approached, almost afraid to look, but too excited not to._

_One finger, nail bitten to the quick, trailed down the list of names until he found his own._

_Seeley grinned._

**Seeley Booth, Freshman – RB – Varsity**

_

* * *

_

Booth and Brennan approached the group of teens. Four boys in baggy jeans and oversized jackets and two girls in tight pants and large hooded sweatshirts.

"Hey, guys, could I have a word?" He stopped near the group, Brennan beside him as she studied the group. Something beginning with 'anthropologically speaking' no doubt running through her mind.

The teenagers looked over the couple in front of them, they didn't exactly fit in with the scenery.

"What you want, Cop?" A tall boy with dark skin and striking features spoke up first; he held one of the girls close by the waist.

_Obviously the alpha male of this particular social hierarchy._

"What makes you think I'm a cop?" Booth frowned, slightly confused, since he wasn't in a suit and didn't have his badge or gun on him. Although, he now was beginning to think the gun might have been a good idea.

The teens laughed and rolled their eyes.

"Yeah, right. We got the cops down here everyday, you think we can't tell you one of 'em?" A few of them chided.

"Man, you couldn't be more obvious if you had it written in neon across your forehead." A boy with braids in his hair, straddling a small bike shook his head with a smug smile.

Booth glanced at Brennan who just raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

"Alright…yeah. I'm a cop."

The kids groaned and quickly moved in the opposite direction.

"Yo, man, we out." "I ain't bout to be caught talking to no police. I ain't tryin' to get jumped."

Booth immediately moved in front of them.

"Wait." He held out his hands, hoping to calm them. "Look, just listen to me alright? I just need to ask you a few questions."

"Look man, we told you. We don't talk to cops." The first boy responded again, this time taking a defensive position at the front of the group.

Booth's patience was wearing thin.

_If these arrogant little kids think their going to keep me from getting answers they've sorely underestimated…_

Brennan, sensing Booth was near the end of his rope, stepped over to him, leaning in to speak softly.

"Alpha male Booth. Treat him as such." She raised her eyebrows meaningfully and Booth remembered the case they'd worked with the 'mole people'.

He licked his lips and took a deep breath before turning back toward the group.

"Let's try this again. My name is Seeley Booth. This is Temperance Brennan, we're not here today as cops."

The kid cocked his head to the side but seemed to be listening. He glanced at Brennan.

"She ain't no cop."

Brennan shook her head.

"No. I'm a Forensic Anthropologist. But like he said, we're not here today as any of that."

"Then why you here?"

Booth stepped up again. "We're wondering what you know about that."

He pointed across the street to the charred remains of the meth lab.

A couple of the boys glanced in the direction he was pointing and their faces immediately closed up. These kids had been taught since birth to know when to shut up. This was one of those times.

"We don't know nuthin 'bout that." One of the boys, a blue-eyed blonde with buzz cut hair spoke up, one hand holding up his jeans with his belt buckle and looking toward the sky.

"We already know it was a meth lab. We're wondering if you know remember anything strange happening there, about two weeks ago. There was a…a body…found inside." Brennan finished quietly.

Booth watched curiously as each of the kids diverted their attention to the ground or passing cars.

"Please." The pleading tone in his voice made Brennan's ears perk up and she turned her attention away from the kids to him.

"Just…please. I knew the…the man who died. I knew him."

A couple of the boys remained neutral in their expressions. The other two, including the Alpha, along with the girl at his side, all softened their faces. They knew the pain of loss. The other girl stood apart from the others, still scrutinizing the intruders with a watchful eye.

The alpha boy shook his head slowly.

"I'm sorry man, but the first thing you learn 'round here is when to keep your nose out other people's business. As far as anybody knows, we don't know nuthin, and even if we did we couldn't tell you." He shrugged and walked around Booth to continue down the street, followed closely by the rest of the group.

Except the other girl, she remained still as the others walked away.

Booth let out a frustrated sigh and glanced at Brennan who was biting her lip in thoughtful apprehension.

_Why is it the one case that we can't afford to lose is the one case we've ever come close to losing?_

"Yo C, you comin'?" The teens realized one of their friends' were missing and turned back around to retrieve the tall, dark haired girl.

"I'll catch up you guys." She responded, never taking her eyes off Booth, who, she could tell, was sizing her up.

"Awww, c'mon Cori, don't tell me you 'bout to talk. You know better than that."

"I _said_ I'll catch up Taye." Cori shot the Alpha a look and he immediately rolled his eyes.

"Whatever, look us up when you done puttin' your nose where it don't belong." He waved her off and strutted in front of the group as they continued to disappear further down the street.

Booth turned to the girl and she scrutinized him with narrowed eyes. Her jeans were too tight, her hoodie too big and her expensive white tennis shoes didn't have laces, but other than that, she didn't look like the others. Her hair was soft and curly, framing a round face, both open and honest. The only thing out of place was her brown eyes that shown with a knowledge of things far beyond her years.

"I been around cops my whole life." She began, unfolding her arms from across her chest, "I can tell a dirty cop from three miles away. You ain't one, so what do you want? You knew the dead guy?" Cori asked, purposefully being tactless to gauge their reaction. She unconsciously lifted an eyebrow when the woman immediately reached for the man's hand, who'd grimaced at what she said.

"He was my father." Booth ground out, trying to keep hostility out of his voice.

All the cockiness immediately rushed out of Cori's demeanor and she stood straighter. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"It's fine. What can you tell us?"

Cori sighed and glanced at the house, her heart raced when she realized what she was about to do.

"A lot."

-----------------------------------

"Booth." Brennan leaned over to him, whispering in his ear. "Stop fidgeting. Everything's going to be fine." Brennan smiled when he turned to her and squeezed his hand in reassurance. Their interlaced fingers sat on his bouncing knee while his free hand intermittently went from his pocket to finger his poker chip, to running it through his hair.

He nodded.

He knew it would be fine. It had to be.

_Just because the fate of my father's murderer rests on the shoulders of the testimony of a sixteen-year-old girl…that's no reason to be nervous._

Booth smiled at his own sarcasm, but immediately sobered when the attorney next spoke.

"And now Your Honor, the prosecution would like to call to the stand Miss Cori Buel."

Booth and Brennan watched silently as Cori, now dressed in a knee-length white skirt, a light blue blazer and her thick dark hair pulled back in a bun, carefully took the stand.

She was sworn in and the attorney began his questioning.

"Ms. Buel could you tell us what you were doing two and a half weeks ago, the evening of Saturday the ninth?"

Cori nodded and leaned forward awkwardly to talk into the microphone.

"Yeah, me and some friends we were out walking…"

"What time was this?" The attorney paced back and forth in front of the jury, an action that was actually making Cori kind of nervous.

"Um…around ten, maybe ten-thirty."

"And you were just out in the street?"

"Well…yeah. I mean, my mom works a lot and for some of my friends…the street is safer than being at home." She waited and after receiving a nod from the attorney she continued.

"So anyway, we were out walking and this car, kind of nice for our neighborhood, probably a Toyota…but new. Definitely new. So this car comes speeding down the street and stops in front of the house, the meth lab. We thought that was kind of weird because, I mean, most of the time they don't want to draw attention to the place 'cause the cops'll bust em."

Cori took a moment to fiddle with the hem of her skirt.

"We decided to see what was up, 'cause whoever the guy was, he was mad about something. So me and my friend Mike go near the window 'cause Fay was scared and hung back. I could hear voices from inside, loud. They were fighting over a woman it sounded like. So we watched for a few seconds, sort of like watching live Jerry Springer. And then JR just...lost it."

"Who is JR?"

"Oh, he's a pretty popular Meth dealer in DC, well…not anymore 'cause y'all got him locked up. But anyway JR lost it. He started screaming somthin' I couldn't understand, and he pulls this huge knife out of his suit jacket. He…um…the other dude just fell to the floor.

Brennan felt Booth tense beside her and squeezed his hand again. She could tell he was trying so hard to be strong, wanted to see the whole trial. But she also knew it was driving him insane.

"I see," The attorney continued, "And Ms. Buel, could you tell the court why you agreed to give us this testimony? I mean, you are a young woman and generally speaking, testifying for the cops, where you come from, is very dangerous.

Cori sighed and let her gaze fall to her hands in her lap.

"My Pops was a cop. A good one. He was killed during a drug bust about five years ago. This is kind of like my redemption I guess. To let him know that there are still people out there who love justice as much as he did, and that I helped them." Cori let her eyes slip over to Booth and Brennan and she smiled slightly before she was excused from the witness stand.

One by one, the squints, who had traveled up from DC to testify, took their places on the stand and then back beside Brennan and Booth, who were both watching the jury for signs of…anything.

"Sweetie? You okay?"

Brennan could only nod as she watched the Jury be escorted to a small room somewhere behind the courtroom where they could mull over what to believe and what to throw out.

Brennan looked at Booth and Booth looked at Brennan, wishing they were a fly on the wall in that jury room.

The fate of Booth's world, and his sanity, rested in the hands of twelve complete strangers…and they all knew it.

**Aha, a cliffee of a different sort...but not the big one. Still one more biggie left...thank the Boneyard cliffee-freaks. lol**


	23. Beginning of the End

**Only a few more chaps to go guys, three or four...**

**

* * *

**_1999_

_"You look like you could use a drink." The slightly overweight dark haired man eyed his newest customer from behind the bar._

_Seeley Booth looked at him wearily and slumped himself over the counter. He'd stopped at the little restaurant on impulse, his day had been too draining for him to try and think of something to cook once he got home._

_"Yeah…I'll take a…"_

_Before he could finish the thought a small glass and a bottle with no label was sat in front of him with a thud._

_He gave the bartender a questioning look._

_"Trust me." Was all he said._

_Seeley was not usually the type of man to drink something that had no label just given to him by a stranger, but today he thought…_why not?

_He shrugged and poured himself a glass. Downed in one gulp, the scotch stung his throat and made his eyes water, but he smiled ever so slightly._

Perfect.

_"How'd you know?" He asked, looking up._

_The man just shrugged and smiled to himself. He walked back to the kitchen to place Seeley's order…although Seeley had not actually…ordered._

_Again, Seeley shrugged and contemplated the empty shot glass in front of him before filling it and downing it, almost in one motion. He'd done this three times before the other man returned._

_"Unless you're handing me you're keys right now, I suggest you slow down." He sat a bowl of chicken and dumplings in front of Seeley and motioned for him to eat._

_Seeley did._

Wow…this is unreal.

_The man stood behind the counter and dried glasses, pretending not to notice the awed look he was receiving from his patron._

_Seeley finally just shook his head._

_"You ever considered a job at the FBI? With skills like yours we could put away a lot more perps."_

_The man put down the glass and laughed heartily._

_"Nah…those monkey suits don't do anything for my figure."_

_His comment was rewarded with the first real smile the FBI agent had donned all day._

_Seeley extended his hand._

_"I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth."_

_The man took it._

_"Name's Sid." He smiled, "Welcome to Wong Fu's."_

* * *

Booth watched the last juror disappear through the doors and sat for a moment, staring after them. His heart pounded as if he'd just run a cross-country race, and now he had to do one of his least favorite things in the world. 

Wait.

After a moment Brennan grew worried at the distant look in Booth's eyes and reached for his hand. He squeezed it once before finally breaking out of his self-induced trance.

He stood and turned to look at the squints seated behind him. Brennan stood beside him, her fingers still laced with his.

"Listen you guys, I just wanted to say…thanks." Booth frowned at the difficulty he was having speaking.

"I know it was just another case…but thanks. You guys did a great job. Which isn't really all that surprising." He shrugged and looked down.

Angela felt herself tearing up and suddenly stepped forward, snatching Booth into a hug.

"Oh Booth…no thanks necessary." She closed her eyes and sniffed while Brennan rubbed her back, also fighting off tears, which frustrated her to no end.

They pulled apart and Hodgins met Booth with a smile and reached out to pat his shoulder.

"Yeah man, but this definitely was not 'just another case'. Never is when friends are involved."

Booth nodded and bumped knuckles with Hodgins' outstretched fist.

"I was quite impressed with Ms. Buel's testimony." Zach injected his two cents into the silence that had descended the empty courtroom. "She did very well for someone so young, even though I'm pretty sure the murder weapon she led us to was enough to convict JR, her testimony certainly didn't hurt."

Hodgins punched the young doctor lightly in the arm.

"Dude you're rambling. Just calm down okay? The verdict isn't even in yet."

Zach nodded. "I know. That's why I'm nervous. I've never wanted to win a case so badly."

The whole circle of people smiled warmly at Zach's uncharacteristically sensitive comment, but Booth was the only one to speak.

"Thank you Zach."

For once Zach didn't protest to being directly addressed by Booth, he simply smiled and nodded.

"Hey, speaking of Cori, did any of you see where she went after her testimony?" Booth questioned.

"She was on her phone just a second ago and I saw her go outside." Angela spoke up and pointed toward the doors.

"Thanks." Booth made a move to leave but turned back to Brennan before doing so. He smiled at her softly and she raised her eyebrows in question.

"What is it Boo…" Her words were cut off when he leaned down and pulled her head towards him so he could kiss her. Brennan's mind stopped working for a moment and she fell into it, completely oblivious to the wide smirk spreading across both Angela and Hodgins' faces and the deep blush in Zach's.

She pulled back panting.

_Why is it a kiss so gentle can leave me so completely breathless?_

Booth grinned, as if reading her thoughts.

"I'll be right back."

Brennan smiled as he left the courtroom, ignorant to the fact that Booth had just unknowingly lied to her.

------------------------------------

"Cori?"

The young girl turned at the sound of her name, sending her black curls in wild directions.

Booth approached her and frowned at the terrified look on her face.

"What is it…"

"Get away from me!" She shouted, suddenly whipping around and running down the courthouse steps. Booth immediately ran after her, catching up at the bottom of the stairs.

"Cori!" He grabbed her elbow and spun her back toward him. She met the gesture with flailing fists.

"I said leave me alone!" She gave one last hard shove that finally broke her from his grasp. "Let me go!"

She turned to run away again but for some reason turned right back around, tears now streaming down her face.

"I never should have done that!" She screamed, fists balled at her sides as shaking rippled through her body.

Booth tried to remain calm.

"Never should have done what Cori?"

"Testified!" She took her cell phone from her pocket and thrust it out to him. "They left this before I went on the stand but I didn't get it until just now."

Cori forced herself to keep still while the man before her listened to the message on her phone. She tried to disguise sobs as gasps for breath and watched his face change. She might have been okay too, if that fiercely determined look hadn't been immediately preceded by a flash of fear.

"See?! They're gonna kill me!" Cori was in hysterics, not knowing whether she wanted to run or fight, so she settled for screaming.

"Cori just calm down." Booth reached out for her again but she stepped back.

"No! They're gonna do it again Booth!" Cori was used to feeling helpless, most kids from her neighborhood were, but she was more than helpless right them. She was scared. Scared out of her mind and Booth, who had become a somewhat regular presence in her life in the weeks preceding the trial, wasn't able to calm her.

"Do what again Cori?" Booth asked patiently, feeling like he was negotiating a standoff.

"My life, they're gonna ruin my life." Her voice was broken with sobs and tight with tears as she fought for control that was far out of her grasp. She read confusion on the agent's face and was unable to keep herself from continuing.

"Six years ago…My father…he wasn't killed in the line of fire. Not really." She slumped down onto the last step and put her head in her hands, now talking quietly because her throat was getting sore from all her yelling.

Cori felt Booth's presence beside her, but continued staring at the squashed cigarette butt between her feet.

"He was with a bunch of other officers in a three hour standoff at this major drug dealer's place. They had a hostage…the police decided it would be a bright idea to do a trade off. Get a cop…on the inside who could talk the guys down, ya' know? But at the time they didn't know the dealers were higher than the Goodyear blimp, trippin' on crack or some stuff…My dad was chosen to be the bargaining chip."

Cori finally looked up at Booth, the torment of a ten-year-old girl orphaned by her father plainly written in her watery brown eyes. He frowned and forced down tears of his own.

"He was on the porch…the tradeoff made…they thought they had it all under control…" She stopped and closed her eyes, shaking her head at an image in her minds eye and Booth squeezed her shoulder, "One of the guys just lost it…grabbed my dad and started screaming at him…all of a sudden, before anybody could react…he pulled out his gun and…" The tears overcame her and she collapsed in Booth's arms, seeking the comfort of a father she never had.

Booth rocked her slowly, unable to find the words to console her, a new phenomenon for him he blamed on his own recent loss.

He became aware of Cori speaking again.

"There were news crews there that day…they played it over and over on the TV for weeks…and for months after that you could still find it on the internet. They wouldn't shut up about it."

Cori pulled back and wiped her tears, smearing mascara all around her eyes.

"Drug dealers ruined my life then and they're ruining it now. JR is a powerful guy, lotsa pull in the drug world. He wants me dead…he can do it. Even from prison." Cori looked up at Booth and his heart sank once again at the sight of such raw fear on her delicate face. She blinked at him, her breathing had thankfully almost evened out, but she could still hear blood rushing in her ears.

"I'll get you Federal protection Cori, nothing is going to happen to you." He said, standing and pulling her along with him.

She turned to look out at the street and with surprising calmness, mumbled to him.

"It's too late."

Booth frowned and turned to where she was looking as a black town car rolled slowly past the courthouse.

The tinted passenger side window rolled down and a shiny black gun barrel poked out of it, sending shivers down his spine.

Without a thought Booth grasped Cori's shoulders and pulled her to his chest, simultaneously putting his body in front of hers and pushing them to the ground.

The world chose that moment to blow up.

**Ha ha!! Cliffee. I warned ya didn't I? **


	24. What Did You Do?

**Have you ever heard the phrase, 'don't hate the player, hate the game'? Well, 'don't hate the author, hate the muse'. lol.**

* * *

_1988_

_"Don't even think about it man."_

_Seeley looked over his shoulder at Frankie, the kid assigned to showing him around his new school._

_"What do you mean?" His eyes slid back over to the parking lot. There he'd spotted a girl in tight black jeans and a blue belly shirt dancing outside a hot red convertible._

_Frankie just shook his head and squeezed Seeley's shoulder._

_"I mean Tara Livingston. The Blonde Goddess. Don't even think about it."_

_Seeley shifted his back-pack on his shoulder and glanced sideways again at Frankie._

_"Why not?"_

_The other boy dissolved in laughter, his braces catching the sunlight and momentarily blinding his confused companion._

_"Why not? Tara Livingston is heiress to the Livingston fortune. She gets whatever she wants, whenever she wants and I've never known her to shop around Westmore High for a boyfriend, know what I'm saying?" He looked at Seeley, but the expression on his face told him he didn't._

_"What I mean, Seeley my man, is that she doesn't go out with high school guys. Only gives those University jocks the time of day."_

_Seeley frowned for a moment before he continued on his way down the grassy hill toward the parking lot._

_"Hey! Seeley…did you hear a word I just said?" Frankie called after him._

This kid is nuts! She's gonna eat him alive!

_Seeley turned quick and gave Frankie his most cocky smile._

_"Of course I did Frankie-boy, I'm not an idiot."_

_Seeley turned back around and set his sights on The Blonde Goddess, who had just glanced at him and rolled her eyes._

I also don't give up without a fight.

* * *

The streets were eerily quiet once the gunshots faded. The black town car sped down the street and was quickly forgotten as people slowly stood and looked around, grasping for a handle on the moment.

People who'd never even heard gunfire in person could now smell it in the air. Complete strangers, who would ordinarily avoid one another's gaze if they passed in a hallway, now made eye contact, silently asking each other if they were okay.

Slowly, they came back to their senses and it dawned on them that if someone had been shooting…they must have been shooting **at** someone else.

_But who?_

Finally a few noticed the two figures sprawled out at the bottom of the courthouse steps, a pool of crimson blood spreading out on the concrete beneath them.

------------------------------------

"So how has he been?" Angela absently twirled Hodgins' Rolex around and around his wrist. They sat in the courtroom waiting for Booth to return so they could go get something to eat.

Brennan sighed.

"A lot better now. It's still fresh and he's still in pain but…we're handling it. Together." She smiled slightly on the last word.

_Together. I like that._

"That can't be good." Zack said.

"What are you talking about?"

He nodded toward the other end of the room where the doors had opened and every uniformed officer in the building was rushing through the courtroom and out the other side.

Brennan hesitated only half a second, glancing at her team who all gave her a confused look. She jumped out of her chair and ran off in the direction the officers had gone.

She heard Angela's heels and the soft squeeze of Zack and Hodgins' dress shoes following closely as she entered the hallway outside. She knew, by the dreadful sinking in the pit of her stomach, that she'd been spending way too much time with Booth. He was starting to wear off on her.

_There is no such thing as gut feelings. Only facts. Empirical evidence._

Temperance Brennan was about to get all the empirical evidence she could ever want, and then some.

------------------------------------

Booth slowly lifted his head, the throbbing doing so caused him was almost unbearable. He winced and was about to lay it back down when he realized there was something underneath him. Peeking through one eyelid he saw a mass of curly black hair right under his face.

For reasons unknown to him, Booth knew this mass of curly black hair belonged to someone and _that_ someone would need him to get off them in order to breathe.

He didn't know his body weight was all that was keeping that person from bleeding out.

Booth groaned aloud as he tried to lift the left side of his body and roll off Cori. There was a train ramming into the sides of his skull and he felt his whole brain throb with each movement.

Suddenly he felt a searing pain in his right side and stomach, like someone was stabbing and burning him over and over. He sucked in his breath to keep from crying out as he completed his movement to get off Cori's small body.

There might have been someone screaming at him at that moment, but he wasn't sure. All he knew was this unbelievable pain radiating from his lower torso, it blinded him to everything else.

He vaguely heard voices screaming to each other in the back of his mind and tried to distract himself from the pain by making out what they were saying.

"…shots fired…casualties…stay back…ma'am you can't…please….Oh God CORI!!…front…courthouse…hurry…Booth…help…on the way…"

-------------------------------------------------

The air outside the courthouse was thick, as if everyone knew Death was lurking. Hiding in the shadows in his black shroud, watching…waiting.

Brennan burst through the doors outside and paused for a moment to take in the scene around her and decide on a course of action.

There were people everywhere. Most had gathered together in small groups of two or three, talking, crying or simply staring off into space.

Brennan knew these were signs of shock and that something bad had happened. Very bad.

_But where's Booth?_

There was a cluster of officers huddled around something at the bottom of the steps. Without thinking she took off toward them. She knew where Booth was.

_Gut instinct._

She got closer and as the officers shifted around she could see two familiar bodies laying side by side, blood pooling beneath them. She stopped.

_I hate gut instincts._

Brennan heard someone scream behind her and she looked. Megan, Cori's mother, was standing a few feet back and to her right. Close enough to see her daughter on the ground, soaking in her own life force. Two officers were holding her back, she must have tried to get closer. A few feet beyond Megan, Brennan saw Angela hugging a short woman in a grey suit, Booth's mother, and Hodgins keeping a staying hand on Jared's shoulder.

She turned back to the group of policemen.

_Let them try and hold me back._ Brennan thought, not even donning a small smile for the defiant sentiment.

She closed the rest of the distance between herself and the officers. Pushing through the crowd of them she saw a couple of whom she recognized but couldn't have remembered their names if she'd been asked. Of course, at that moment they all could have been named Gavin the Warrior King and she wouldn't have cared. All that mattered was Booth.

One of the officers reached out to stop her and she shot him a look.

"Have you called an ambulance?" She snapped, not a trace of the tears collecting in her eyes was discernable in her voice.

"Yes ma'am, but I need you to step…"

Without waiting for him to continue she knelt beside Booth and began searching for a pulse. The other officers must have been stunned by her calmness, they didn't try to stop her.

"Booth? Booth can you hear me?" She asked firmly, hoping he hadn't already gone into shock. She found his pulse and it was enough to satisfy her at that moment.

Brennan glanced over Booth's torso and found his whole shirt soaked in blood. However, she could very clearly see two holes in said shirt when the officer applying pressure to the wounds would lean back to change postions.

_He's been shot._

The long gash along his forehead made no sense though, it was too deep to have been grazed by a bullet and the trajectory for that didn't make any sense anyway.

Brennan grasped Booth's hand and took a deep breath when she felt him squeeze it.

"Booth stay with me."

She assessed the damage to the unconscious Cori beside him. One of the officers was pressing a shirt to her chest trying to stop the bleeding, but Brennan knew if a bullet had gone in there, the girl most likely had arterial bleeding and wouldn't last long. Her eyes fell on a line of blood along the step above Cori's head and realized it matched the gash in Booth's forehead.

_He was on top of her. Protecting her…_ She turned back to Booth who was staring up at her all of a sudden, no cognitive thought behind those cloudy brown eyes.

She couldn't keep the tears out of her voice this time.

"What did you do? Oh God Booth…what did you do?"

**Ahh yes, a cliffee from a cliffee junkie…there's no telling when it will stop**.


	25. Setting Things Right

**I know I'm a horrible person for leaving you guys on the cliff for so long, promise it'll be resolved like...now. lol. I decided to deal with Booth and Cori first, BB in the next chappie.**

* * *

_1996_

_He hadn't even told his family he was on Leave. That's how bad he needed it. He couldn't even bring himself to tell his own family he was home because they would want him to visit. They would want him to leave Vegas. He just couldn't do that._

_Seeley stepped inside the casino and took a deep breath. The smell of cigarettes and money blended in the air and soothed his overwhelmed senses. He smiled. He knew this place. Here, or any other casino, he at least knew where he stood._

_Seeley knew in a place like this who the losers were and who the winners. He knew the odds for everyone were the same. He understood that sometimes that's just the way the dice fell, the way the hand was dealt. He was sometimes disappointed and sometimes pleasantly surprised. But he always knew what to expect._

_In the casino he could drown out the sounds of explosions and gunshots that invaded his mind when it was idle, because in here the bright lights and constant noise made it impossible for his mind to rest. In here the shouts of glee and the clinky-clank of coin money against itself rang out all over and made him smile. The sound of winning._

_His hands shook with adrenalin and his heartbeat quickened as he spotted his destination. The Craps table. A place where he could spend the entire night just watching the dice fall, hoping to leave with more than he had come. But even if he didn't, if he left without a penny to his name, it was really okay. Because a night of no sleep because of losing money he couldn't afford not to have, was better than a night of no sleep because the flashbacks were so intense he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes._

_Yes, in a casino, Seeley Booth was home.

* * *

_

Brennan threw her coat on the chair and slumped into her orange couch. It was near eleven at night and though she was exhausted she didn't feel the least bit like sleeping.

At noon she'd left the lab intending to grab something to eat and go back. Instead, she'd ended up at the park walking around, trying to clear her head of a single recurring face, an echoing voice. She hadn't visited Booth since right after his surgery and her heart ached to hold him, and kiss him. But for some reason her legs wouldn't take her to him.

For all her protestations of independence and strength, Temperance Brennan was scared out of her mind. Not of love, but of loss.

She'd walked for nearly four hours and when her legs started to feel like jelly she realized it was time to head home. Now that she was there, she was wondering what to do with herself.

Brennan got up and went to the refrigerator to retrieve a bottle of wine. She stared at it for a moment. Then, abandoning all etiquette, brought it to her lips as if it were a beer bottle.

She knew that as soon as she closed her eyes to sleep she would hear Booth's voice. She would feel all her emotions getting mixed up inside her stomach and make her want to cry and scream at the same time.

She decided she would have to drink all that pain away. At least for tonight.

In her dark apartment, Brennan stared at the wall and waited for the alcohol to take effect. She almost expected there to be a knock at her door when she finally drifted off to sleep. Some tall man with thai food and a smile there to make everything okay.

But there wasn't any.

She was disappointed, but not surprised. Who would care about her anyway?

-------------------------------

"Where is she? Look let me out of here!" Booth struggled against the nurses' restraining hands with all his might he fought to free himself from his hospital bed, thankful the pain in his head and stomach was down to a dull throbbing. A throbbing he chose to ignore.

"Mr. Booth!" One of the male nurses pushed the stubborn patient's shoulder back onto the bed, trying not to look as intimidated as he felt by the fire in the man's eyes.

_I need to get to Bones. Why can't they understand that? She needs me._

Angela stood off in the corner feeling slightly guilty that she was the cause of Booth's outburst. But she had to tell him.

She hadn't even been trying to eavesdrop when she inadvertently heard Brennan's teary confession. And she hadn't been trying to spy when she saw the look on her friends' face when she dashed out of Booth's room. And when she disappeared into the elevator, Angela knew that there was only one person who could console her. That person was asleep in a hospital bed enjoying a medically induced coma.

So, Angela knew that when Booth woke up from said medically induced coma a day and a half later, she had to tell him.

Of course, that information turned Booth into the raging Grizzly Bear he now was.

"Mr. Booth, you either calm down or we sedate you." A nurse with kind gray eyes held up a syringe showing she was ready to put him under if necessary.

Angela stepped out of the shadows and caught Booth's gaze.

_You nit-wit! You can't go to her if they won't let you out of the hospital!_

Booth sighed and sat back, relaxing. He hadn't read her mind, but close, she was almost as open a book as Brennan.

"Fine." He said sharply. "When can I get out of here?"

"Well that's more like it." The nurse, a young woman with fair skin and dark hair, smiled slightly and waved away the other three who'd been attempting to hold Booth down.

"Assuming you haven't ripped your stitches," She quickly jotted down a few numbers off the monitors surrounding Booth's bed. "tomorrow."

She grinned at him and her sincerity made Booth have to avert his eyes to avoid smiling in return.

"Don't make me come back in here Mr. Booth." The nurse warned, glaring at him playfully before leaving the room.

Angela was immediately at his side.

"Whoa. Brennan always said you were an alpha-male but that was pretty impressive for a guy with two gunshot wounds and a severe concussion." She smiled as widely as she could muster and was rewarded with a small smile from Booth.

"Yeah. Look Angela, will you do me a favor?"

"Anything. You know that."

"Check on Bones for me?"

Angela reached down and patted his arm. "I'm on it Sweetie." She smiled and turned to collect her bag when he stopped her again.

"Oh, wait…can you do something else first?"

"What?"

"Will you check on Cori? I haven't heard anything and her mother is…" Booth stopped when Angela's usually cheery face fell and she quickly looked at the floor, fiddling with her key chain.

"Angela?"

_Busted_.

"Angela did something happen?"

She nodded slowly and looked up at him. "I'm sorry Booth."

"What...are you sorry for?" His eyes widened.

_Don't say it._

Angela shrugged helplessly, tears standing in her eyes.

"You tried to protect her Booth…but the two bullets that shot you…one of them went all the way through and got to Cori. It…punctured her lung…Booth, she didn't even make it to the hospital."

Booth let his head fall back on the pillow and closed his eyes for a moment.

"God no." A whisper was all he could muster from his voice.

Angela stood still while she waited for Booth to process the information, quite sure that there would be instructions for something immediately following.

True to form Booth sat up a few seconds later and looked at her.

"Angela, I need you to go to Cori's mother. See if she said anything before…just see please?"

Angela frowned slightly.

"What are you thinking Booth?"

Booth sighed. "Please Ange? I have a feeling."

Angela nodded and left on her mission. One of Booth's 'feelings' was enough reason for her.

----------------------------------------

Booth stood in the empty hospital room and felt for his piece on his hip. It was a bit too familiar to be back in there, having only been discharged for a day. Cullen surprised him by allowing Booth to be in on the execution of his plan…of course, it was **his** plan. Not to mention he had made a pretty convincing argument.

_**"But sir!"**_

_**"No Agent Booth."**_

_**"Sam!" Booth almost choked on his own tongue when he called his boss by his first name, but at least it got the man's attention. "I mean sir, she testified. She was partly responsible for putting the man who killed my father behind bars. I can't just let her murderer go. I have to do something. She deserves it."**_

_**Cullen sighed. "Fine Booth. But you watch it. Shoot only if you have to and only below the belt.**_

Booth let his eyes scan the hallway through the window in the door, but there was still nothing to see.

_They won't stop 'til you make 'em._

The last words Cori had spoken to her mother echoed in Booth's ears. Cori's mother, Megan, was of course confused by it, thinking her daughter was just in excruciating pain and speaking nonsense. But those nonsense words made sense to Booth when Angela told him the day he was discharged from the hospital. That's when he went to Cullen, he was going to catch the people that killed Cori. And that was that.

"Anything?" Booth spoke into the walkie-talkie on his wrist and a few agents down the hallway dressed as nurses shook their heads. Still no sign of the hit man.

It hadn't been very hard, fooling the media. It was a little eerie though, when the news anchor said Cori was in fact alive and well in the ICU at Shetland Hospital. The perfect bait. Now all they needed was the fish.

Just then Booth's eyes moved over to a doctor clicking down the hallway, intently studying a clipboard in his hands.

There was something about the way that white coat was swishing back and forth that didn't feel right. The doctor stopped and hesitated at the door directly across from Booth, putting down his clipboard and reaching his hands into his pockets as he entered the room. From Booth's vantage point he could see the man raise his hands, the glint of a silencer on a gun barrel blaringly obvious.

"Execute now now now." Booth hissed into his walkie-talkie while simultaneously running, limping, from his room across the hall to the hit man.

In one swift motion he swung open the door and punched the hit man in the jaw as a single shot rang out, shattering a heart monitor by the bed.

Booth cried out in pain as his sore muscles protested to the exertion and his knees began to buckle just as a nearby agent reached for him, steadying him on his uncertain legs.

The hit man was scrambling for the gun he'd dropped when a booted foot stepped on it. Looking up and he found that the boot belonged to a dark haired woman dressed in a hospital gown, who just happened to have her own gun pointed directly at his head.

Slowly, the hit man raised his hands.

"Nice job Phillips." Booth gasped, clutching his stomach and wincing.

The young female agent grinned cheekily and withdrew one hand from her weapon to pull the curly black wig off her head, revealing a mop of red hair.

"Ditto Agent Booth."

Booth hooked a thumb through the belt loop of his jeans to support his bending frame and moved toward the hit man just as he was drug to his feet by Agent Phillips and another agent.

"I'd d ask if you're alright…but I really don't care." Booth felt his muscles tense and he wanted so badly to plant his fist firmly in the hit man's gut. But he was already cuffed and defenseless.

_He isn't worth it._

"She was sixteen years old you sick sonofabitch. Just a kid. Too bad for you really, I hear the inmates over at Cross City West don't take kindly to child killers. Should be fun."

Booth's face set in a hard expression as he watched the other agent escort the hit man out of the hospital. He felt a small sense of satisfaction at knowing one of the things he felt the need to set right was on it's way there. Cori's death would be avenged. Booth would make sure of that.

Now he had to take care of a problem he was having with a certain scientist.

**Okay, next chap is BB, and the last chap, so review and it shall be up soon!**


	26. A Love that Will Last

**I can't believe I'm at the last chapter! I put off posting this for a while just cuz I didn't want this to be over, but all good things must come to an end right? Okay, well, I hope you enjoy this. Total BB, from the flashback to the convo to the...well, I'm not going to tell you the end. But, I hope you've had as much fun as I have and...B-Squared FOREVER!!!**

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Bones ::sniff:: thanks for bringing it up. **

* * *

_2007_

_The soft summer breeze rippled through the park-like setting, pushing Brennan's auburn hair in different directions. She stood quietly next to Booth, watching him out of the corner of her eye._

_Booth stared at his father's headstone and made a conscious effort to take deep breaths. Breathing was one of the things he was having to remind himself to do lately._

_The trial would be taking place the next day and the gravity of the situation seemed to have hit him all at once. He's suddenly gotten restless and said he needed to leave the hotel. Brennan had accompanied him as they drove aimlessly through the labyrinth of Philadelphia streets, a tense silence thick in the car._

_Finally, they'd come to a stop at the cemetery and Booth was glad Brennan didn't question it. She simply exited the car and took his hand as they meandered toward Samuel Booth's grave._

_They stood next to each other now, Brennan's hands in her pockets as she tried to be respectful of Booth's need to reconcile once more with his father's death._

_"He was a good man, my dad." Booth said softly, Brennan snapped her head toward him; it was the first he'd spoken since they left the hotel._

_"Not perfect by any means…but a good man. Took care of his family, worked hard his whole life." He took a deep breath and shifted on his feet, letting his eyes trace over the engraved letters of his father's name._

_Brennan nodded and stepped forward, lacing their fingers and squeezing gently._

_"I think I would have liked him." She glanced at Booth, the faintest traces of a smile on his lips reassured her, "If he was anything like you I would have been crazy about him."_

_Nodding, Booth glanced at her before withdrawing his hand and kneeling, crossing himself._

_"I only wish someday to be half the man he was."_

_Brennan bit her bottom lip and stared at the back of Booth's head as he bowed it in prayer._

You already are.

_

* * *

_

Booth knocked firmly in the center of Brennan's apartment door just below the '2B'. He waited patiently in the quiet hallway for the sound of the doorknob turning.

Brennan was tidying up when she heard a knock at the door. Glancing at the clock, she approached it. It wasn't very late, but she wasn't expecting any visitors.

From the surprised look on her face when she opened the door, Booth guessed she had not checked the peephole first.

"Bones," He said in an exasperated tone, "How many times have I told you to check before you open the door? You never know who could be out here."

Brennan opened her mouth to speak, when nothing came she simply stood aside and allowed Booth to push past her and come inside.

"You're…they let you out."

Booth raised an eyebrow and gave her a cockeyed grin.

"I wasn't in prison Bones, although it did feel like that from time to time." He shrugged, "They gave me some pain meds and sent me on my way."

He glanced around her apartment noting that, as usual, she kept everything orderly and clean. Her boldly colored walls sparsely decorated here and there with paintings or photos that had a very 'Angela' feel to them, along with obviously historical objects scattered around on tables and countertops.

"We got the hit man, by the way." He brought his eyes back to Brennan who had yet to move away from the door, her body still twisted around looking at him while her left hand held the knob.

"Cori's killer?"

Booth nodded, a dark flash moved across his face before he pushed it away.

_Not the time._

Brennan nodded back and swallowed, folding her arms across her chest and turning toward him more fully.

"I'm sorry about Cori, Booth."

Booth thanked her quietly and shoved his hands in his pockets while he studied her. She stared hard at the ground, her hair refusing to stay put behind her ears and he didn't miss the fact that her body was so obviously on the defense.

_Trying not to get hurt._ Booth knew. He felt a heat rise in his stomach.

_Why does she think I am going to hurt her?_

"I didn't see you at the hospital." He stated, waiting to gauge her reaction.

"Oh, um…" Brennan bit her lip and gestured vaguely with her right hand, "I had a lot of work to get done…reports and things…I've just, um, I never really got around to it."

Booth took a step toward her and was about to respond when she panicked.

"You want something to drink Booth?" She asked quickly, starting off toward her kitchen before he had a chance to say anything. Booth followed her and carefully shed his jacket, his wounds still protesting to too much movement. Brennan rummaged around her kitchen searching for glasses.

"Bones?"

She ignored him and filled two cups with ice water, preferring not to drink alcohol the way she had been the past three nights. She heard him call her again and lifted the first glass to her lips and downed it.

Silence filled the open kitchen as Booth watched Brennan lean over her sink, her head bowed, a million different things, no doubt, running through her mind. He just wished she would, for once, tell him what was going on in that beautiful mind.

Brennan turned to leave the kitchen but stopped dead when her gaze accidentally met Booth's. The depth of emotion he conveyed with just his eyes astounded her and she quickly averted her own.

"Temperance."

The sound of her name bouncing off the empty air sent shivers down her spine and she lifted the other glass of water to her mouth, downing that one as well.

"Look at me." When she did he continued, "Why weren't you there?"

"I already told you Both, I've been busy with…"

"That's bullshit and you know it."

The hairs on the back of her neck bristled; he'd never used that sharp tone with her before. Even though what he said was true, and even though he had every right to be upset with her…that didn't stop Brennan from defending herself.

"You have no right to tell me what I say isn't true." She placed her hands on her hips and stepped toward him challengingly.

"Fine." Booth set his jaw. He was angry. After all they'd been through she was still trying to shut him out, that made him fucking pissed.

"Then that's the truth? You left me on death's door in the hospital so you could finish a report?!"

Brennan's gaze faltered. "Well…no."

Booth tried to reign in his temper, but looking at her, visibly closing in around herself, he failed miserably.

"Then what is it? What are you scared of?!" His voice was rising. He felt helpless when she was like this. He didn't like helpless.

"I'm not scared."

"Yes you are! You always run when you're scared."

Brennan swallowed and turned away so he wouldn't see the tears rolling down her face. But he did see, and he immediately hated himself for yelling.

"Bones…" He reached for her but she jumped out of his grasp, spinning to face him, the fire back in her eyes.

"You want to know what I'm scared of?" She shouted, motioning wide with her arms, not bothering to wipe her cheeks. "I'm scared of losing you! My parents, my brother, everyone I love, I lose so…"

"Dammit Temperance!" Booth cut her off and stepped forward to stand toe-to-toe with her, the way he always did when they argued. "I'm not your father. I'm not Russ. Haven't I proven that to you? Why do you refuse to trust me when you know I would never leave?!"

He stared at her until he saw those clear blue eyes begin to soften.

"You do trust me…don't you Bones?" He asked quietly.

"Of course I do." She said, barely above a whisper.

"Then…then don't do this to me." Booth shrugged helplessly and his eyes pleaded with her. "Don't leave me the way they left you."

Brennan's eyes widened as she realized what she'd almost done.

"You know what it's like to watch someone you love leave you behind Temperance…don't do that to me."

Brennan held her breath and looked away again studying the buttons on his shirt, the look in his eyes was overwhelming. Deafening.

Booth sighed. "Please just look at me."

She hesitated, but slowly lifted her gaze and faced him again, tears now rolling unhindered out of her eyes.

"You are, aside from my son, my only reason for living…please don't take that from me."

Brennan felt her resolve crumble and she unconsciously took a step into him, their faces inches apart.

"I won't." She whispered, her eyes unable to leave his lips, they beckoned her.

"Good." He leaned down to kiss her but she pulled back slightly.

"I…I will always run Booth." She brought her teary gaze to his and waited.

Booth smiled cupping either side of her face so she couldn't move again.

"I know Bones. And I will always chase you."

Brennan smiled and tipped her head up to meet him.

Their lips met. The world stood still. Time stopped marching on and there was only them, alone and lost in each other in this moment. Lost in a love neither of them thought existed. A love that would dodge bullets, survive explosions, solve murders and stand the test of time.

THE END

**::tear:: Okay, that was it. I bid you farewell, I hope our paths cross again one day...maybe another fic...another day...**


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